The New SpiroFlo Site is Live!

Although it’ll be receiving a few more tweaks over the coming weeks, the new SpiroFlo.com is live! We’ve got sections on how the SpiroFlo device provides homes with a faster, better shower with green benefits as well as sections on how the SpiroFlo device removes biofilm in industrial applications. Be sure to come on by and see how shiny it is.

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Colin McKay Miller is the VP of Marketing for the SpiroFlo Holdings group of companies:

-SpiroFlo for residential hot water savings (delivered 35% faster with up to a 5% volume savings on every hot water outlet in the home) and industrial water purification (biofilm removal).

-Vortex Tools for extending the life of oil and gas wells (recovering up to 10 times more NGLs, reducing flowback startup times, replacing VRUs, eliminating paraffin and freezing in winter, etc.).

-Ecotech for cost-effective non-thermal drying (for biosolids, sugar beets, etc.) and safe movement of materials (including potash and soda ash).

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New York Café Sells Purified Tap Water for $2.50 per 16 oz. Glass

SpiroFlo discusses the processes of New York’s new water-only café, Molecule, and how the co-owner came to believe in the value of purified water.

If you were ever one to mock the notion of paying for bottled water, here’s your new target: Molecule in New York City.

Molecule is a water only café. They’re selling tap water for $2.50 for a 16 oz. to-go cup (like many green businesses, they prefer you bring your own reusable container). However, before you judge, this tap water is first sent through a $20,000 seven-stage filtration system—including U.V. light, ozone treatments and reverse osmosis—leaving the café looking more like a science lab with this giant machine.

To break it down, U.V. light kills bacteria; ozone treatments usually means O3—oxygenating the water in a way that soon dissolves, eating the bacteria as it goes; and reverse osmosis is essentially a number of chambers acting as a form of super-fine filtration. The problem with reverse osmosis is this: You don’t actually get rid of the bacteria and minerals; you essentially just concentrate them in one area (like when you sweep dirt into a corner). I’d be curious to know how Molecule deals with this problem and if their mega filtration system will ever become sentient and attack passersby with gloriously purified water (hey, I can dream).

Not convinced? Molecule can add in vitamins and supplements—including the Cordyceps mushroom, which grows in China, Nepal and Tibet—for $1 per serving. Combos are available for $2. Recommended blends from their site include:

• Fountain of Youth: C, E, Green Tea, H/S/N
• Glamour Shot: H/S/N and B comp; and
• Night Vision: A, B comp

Maybe when the filtration machine goes sentient it’ll enable me to truly live forever, be ridiculously good looking, and have night vision (still dreaming…).

Still not convinced? Molecule is offering delivery—by bike, of course, not car/truck—to the East Village. A five-gallon container is $10.

While some praise Molecule, not all are convinced. New York Post columnist Steve Cuozzo conducted a blind taste test and noted the following: “Guess what? Molecule was the only one I didn’t like. My notes say “tannic” — a term usually applied to an unpleasant astringency in too-young wine. All that purging yielded an unnatural-tasting result.”

It should be noted that he is a defender of the baseline purity of New York City tap water.

Part of the problem is that there are many less-than-reliable people who believe better filtrated water has healing properties, yet experience is powerful. According to a Huffington Post article, Molecule co-owner Adam Ruhf “knows first hand the healing properties of purified water, claiming that drinking it regularly helped eased the pain caused the pain brought on by two serious car accidents that left him without a spleen and a leg held together with metal pins.”

Is that legitimate and repeatable? There isn’t enough research to say, but there are a number of fringe books and beliefs prodding the issue.

Here’s what SpiroFlo has found: In industrial water purification applications, with water alone (meaning zero chemical treatments), the SpiroFlo device took biofilm (bacteria that grows from water) from “too many to count” to less than 100 parts per million (statistically zero). For more on biofilm and how SpiroFlo removes it from the pipeline wall, see here.

Although SpiroFlo has applications as a stage in purifying drinking water, since Molecule’s filtration system is already at seven-stages and $20,000, we don’t want to push that 16-oz. glass of purified water to $2.75. That’d be ridiculous.

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Colin McKay Miller is the Marketing Manager for the SpiroFlo Holdings group of companies:

-SpiroFlo for residential hot water savings (delivered 35% faster with up to a 5% volume savings on every hot water outlet in the home) and industrial water purification (biofilm removal).

-Vortex Tools for extending the life of oil and gas wells (recovering up to 10 times more NGLs, reducing flowback startup times, replacing VRUs, eliminating paraffin and freezing in winter, etc.).

-Ecotech for cost-effective non-thermal drying (for biosolids, sugar beets, etc.) and safe movement of materials (including potash and soda ash).

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Infographic: Poop (Yes, Poop)

Ecotech Systems shares an infographic from the Blood:Water Mission.

Although SpiroFlo has covered the Blood:Water Mission before (and their goal to provide clean water, sanitation and clean blood to sub-Saharan Africa), they recently featured an infographic on how the lack of sanitation affects those around the world. For all the complaints about biosolids, many have it far, far worse:

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Colin McKay Miller is the Marketing Manager for the SpiroFlo Holdings group of companies:

-SpiroFlo for residential hot water savings (delivered 35% faster with up to a 5% volume savings on every hot water outlet in the home) and industrial water purification (biofilm removal).

-Vortex Tools for extending the life of oil and gas wells (recovering up to 10 times more NGLs, reducing flowback startup times, replacing VRUs, eliminating paraffin and freezing in winter, etc.).

-Ecotech for cost-effective non-thermal drying (for biosolids, sugar beets, etc.) and safe movement of materials (including potash and soda ash).

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Blood:Water Mission: Clean Water and Clean Blood for Africa

SpiroFlo looks at Blood:Water Mission — a charity organization that provides clean water, sanitation, and clean blood (for those with HIV) to sub-Saharan Africa.

In 2005, the founders of Blood:Water Mission had a goal to get 1000 clean water wells into Africa. As they progressed in the work, they found that, in some cases, making wells wasn’t a possibility, so then the goal became to provide clean water and sanitation to 1000 communities. In 2010, they completed their goal and, of course, decided to keep going.

One of the smartest things Blood:Water Mission did was make their some of their giving options one-off (skipping the monthly giving routine):

• $25 provides safe water for one person for life
• $30 provides one month of comprehensive health care for someone living with HIV
• $125 provides safe water for a family of five for life

(And for those with a skepticism of charity spending, their financial records are available here.)

More on Blood:Water Mission:

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Colin McKay Miller is the Marketing Manager for the SpiroFlo Holdings group of companies:

-SpiroFlo for residential hot water savings (delivered 35% faster with up to a 5% volume savings on every hot water outlet in the home) and industrial water purification (biofilm removal).

-Vortex Tools for extending the life of oil and gas wells (recovering up to 10 times more NGLs, reducing flowback startup times, replacing VRUs, eliminating paraffin and freezing in winter, etc.).

-Ecotech for cost-effective non-thermal drying (for biosolids, sugar beets, etc.) and safe movement of materials (including potash and soda ash).

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The Story Of Stuff Project: Bottled Water

SpiroFlo looks at a video on bottled water from the Story of Stuff Project (providing information “about the way we make, use and throw away Stuff”).

This video starts off obnoxiously heavy-handed, but it’s amusing and informative, especially on the notion of manufactured demand for bottled water. Try not to get distracted by Annie Leonard‘s nonstop hands:

 

Thoughts:

1. Although I’ve mentioned how 80-90% of bottles from bottled water are thrown away (since they actually shouldn’t be reused), the point about the mountains of water bottles in India is quite damning.
2. Can’t say I’ve ever been “seduced” by a mountain stream, but I get what she’s saying about bottled water ads pretending that bottled water has flowed down like liquid manna from God. (I once met a successful advertising executive who said the key to marketing is to make people feel dissatisfied.) The bogus statements from Nestle and PepsiCo don’t help. That said, I still don’t see people spitting out bottled water like the cartoon characters do.
3. Investing in public infrastructure is an interesting thought, but many recognize how bloated their spending is, too.
4. And then, of course, since environmentalists often can’t make a fair point with any form of subtlety, this gem comes out towards the end:  ”Carrying bottled water is on its way to being as cool as smoking while pregnant.”

Ugh. Sometimes there’s a reason why it’s only the choir you’re preaching to.

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Colin McKay Miller is the Marketing Manager for the SpiroFlo Holdings group of companies:

-SpiroFlo for residential hot water savings (delivered 35% faster with up to a 5% volume savings on every hot water outlet in the home) and industrial water purification (biofilm removal).

-Vortex Tools for extending the life of oil and gas wells (recovering up to 10 times more NGLs, reducing flowback startup times, replacing VRUs, eliminating paraffin and freezing in winter, etc.).

-Ecotech for cost-effective non-thermal drying (for biosolids, sugar beets, etc.) and safe movement of materials (including potash and soda ash).

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LifeStraw: Point-of-Use Water Filtration

SpiroFlo looks at LifeStraw—an award-winning portable water filter.

LifeStraw demonstration

Given that we’re in the water saving and purification business, SpiroFlo is a big fan of other water-saving and purification technologies, especially those with ties to humanitarian efforts.

Even in today’s world:

• An estimated 884 million people in the world, 37% of whom live in Sub-Saharan Africa, still use unimproved sources of drinking water.
• Approximately 43% of the global population, especially the lower-income populace in the remote and rural parts of the developing world, is deprived of household safe piped water.
• In many rural and urban areas of the developing world, household water-quality interventions can reduce diarrhea morbidity by more than 40%.

Unfortunately, even with the safety improvements of treating water in the home, there’s still a great need for water filtration at the point of use. That’s where the LifeStraw comes in. Released in 2005 by Vestergaard-Frandsen LifeStaw allows those in third-world countries access to safe drinking water. It contains no chemicals, no moving parts, and has a three-year shelf life (or 264 gallons), filtering out 99.9% of bacteria and protozoa. Users place the LifeStraw directly in the water source and sip through it as a regular straw (albeit slightly bigger: given that it’s 9” by 1”).

LifeStraw is also available in the U.S. and Canada; enabling hikers to cut down on bottled water use (and its associated waste cost). Several LifeStraws are donated yearly for areas in need.

For more on the LifeStraw, visit http://www.vestergaard-frandsen.com/lifestraw

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Colin McKay Miller is the Marketing Manager for the SpiroFlo Holdings group of companies:

-SpiroFlo for residential hot water savings (delivered 35% faster with up to a 5% volume savings on every hot water outlet in the home) and industrial water purification (biofilm removal).

-Vortex Tools for extending the life of oil and gas wells (recovering up to 10 times more NGLs, reducing flowback startup times, replacing VRUs, eliminating paraffin and freezing in winter, etc.).

-Ecotech for cost-effective non-thermal drying (for biosolids, sugar beets, etc.) and safe movement of materials (including potash and soda ash).

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On Sterilex’s EPA Cred

SpiroFlo covers why Sterilex is the only EPA-approved chemical solution to eliminate biofilm.

You've got to earn your 100% kill rate

Back in the Biofilm 101 post, I mentioned that even though the government doesn’t endorse products, somehow Sterilex is the only EPA-approved chemical solution for eliminating biofilm. Although Sterilex is a good (albeit expensive) chemical solution for biofilm treatment, I thought it was an annoying instance of the government not following their own rules, but after chatting with Sterilex, it turns out these cries of government conspiracy need to go on mute.

Basically, when any chemical claims to completely kill any pathogen (or germ) in any application, it has to be approved by the EPA. So in the case of Sterilex claiming to completely eliminate biofilm, they had to go through a stringent process to get that EPA approval. Guess how long that approval process took?

10 years.

So one of the main reasons why Sterilex is the only EPA-approved chemical for completely removing biofilm is because no one else, thus far, can be bothered to go through that marathon process. Even though I was happy when SpiroFlo received the innovative funding for energy efficiency (IFEE) grant from the Colorado Governor’s Energy Office (GEO), this reminds me of why we don’t work with the government more often.

Interestingly enough, the EPA does not regulate devices that remove pathogens, only chemicals. This means that even though independent testing from a large multi-national has shown that the SpiroFlo device reduces the biofilm from “too many to count” to less than 100 parts per million (read: statistically zero), we can’t ever get that EPA approval. Then again, considering we’d likely have to wait until the end of 2021, I think I’m okay with that. In the mean time, SpiroFlo is exploring use in conjunction with Sterilex (and other chemicals) as the device helps keep the chemicals suspended for longer, thereby improving their efficiency, all while keeping the biofilm counts lower between treatments.

Even if we were eligible for EPA approval, I think I’d just say we’re 99.99% effective at removing biofilm and hope that people can round up.

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Colin McKay Miller is the Marketing Manager for the SpiroFlo Holdings group of companies:

-SpiroFlo for residential hot water savings (delivered 35% faster with a 3.5% volume savings on every hot water outlet in the home) and industrial water purification (biofilm removal).

-Vortex Tools for extending the life of oil and gas wells (recovering up to 10 times more NGLs, reducing flowback startup times, replacing VRUs, eliminating paraffin and freezing in winter, etc.).

-Ecotech for cost-effective non-thermal drying (for biosolids, sugar beets, etc.) 

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Buzzwords: Biofilm 101

SpiroFlo analyzes the terms that make up the environmental world—the cliché, the misunderstood, and the “don’t tell your mama” variety—and how they play in today’s society. Today’s word was, up until recently, the dirty little secret of water. If you don’t know about biofilm, it’s time for a basic education about the little bacteria community that could (and unfortunately still can in places you don’t even want to think about). Fortunately, SpiroFlo has a solution.

Biofilm is a bacteria that grows wherever there is water. Like most bacteria, it has some good uses, but for the most part, biofilm is causing far more problems than it’s solving. You know that creepy film on your teeth when you wake up in the morning? That’s biofilm. The goopy, green stuff hanging from pipes — that’s biofilm. Most biofilm is too small to see without a microscope, but considering 80% of all chronic, recurring infections involve biofilm, what you can’t see can hurt you.

In the same way that we have those satellite cameras in space that can zoom down into your house to watch you eat Chef Boyardee in your underpants, there are micro cameras that can zoom down into various microbes. When these micro cameras have zoomed into biofilm, it looks like a slime city. Biofilm isn’t just easily treatable free-floating bacteria; it’s a community that sticks readily to any surface (heart valves, pipe, the inside of an opened water bottle, etc.). With a regenerative, sticky film, the biofilm is very tough to remove, and it protects the other bacteria inside. Biofilm also has polymer webs that allow it to concentrate nutrients and resist purification. A lot of this info comes from Andy Coghlan’s “Slime City” — which is some of the newest info we have about biofilm… and the article came out in 1996.

Welcome to Slime City

The biggest thing we’ve learned about biofilm over the last 15 years is that the problem is way worse than we thought. In addition to infecting hospitals and drinking water, biofilm shows up in the very (not-so-) sterile lines dentists use to rinse out your mouth. (My condolences if your six-month check-up is today.) Recently, however, it seems as though biofilms aren’t the closeted secret they were 10 years back, as the medical industry is finally starting to publicly acknowledge the severity of the problem. Even Listerine is getting in on the act, touting a commercial about how their mouthwash kills biofilm… well, at least for half a day.

Since I work with the water industry via SpiroFlo, I’ve mostly been focused on biofilm removal applications in residential drinking water and industrial water purification. The “solutions” for these applications were, up until recently, chlorine chemical treatments (which don’t work, so companies continually increase their concentration and frequency of use) and monochloramine treatments (which also don’t work, so companies continually increase their concentration and the frequency of use). At best, these treatments can slow the stretch of the sprawling problem, so it’s a little like trying to hogtie a millipede with dental floss. Thankfully the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has endorsed Sterilex as a chemical treatment that completely kills biofilm. Did I say a treatment? I meant to say it’s the only EPA-endorsed chemical treatment. So even though the government has a general rule about not endorsing any particular product, somehow there’s one lonely EPA-endorsed biofilm removal chemical. (My beef is with the faulty protocol, not the solution.*) Can you figure out what the problem with Sterilex is? You guessed it: As the one and only government-endorsed chemical solution to completely kill biofilm, Sterilex is incredibly expensive. It’s kind of hard to readily treat a widespread problem when the main solutions are ineffective or unaffordable.

So here’s where I get to toot my company’s horn: A large, multinational corporation recently completed an independent test regarding the SpiroFlo device’s ability to remove biofilm. This patented SpiroFlo device sets up a spiraling flow that travels around the boundary layer of a pipe — the area of the pipe that is often missed by even the best chemical treatments (and, of course, where biofilm loves to grow). With water alone (as in no chemical treatment), the SpiroFlo device took the biofilm from “too many to count” to less than 100 parts per million. (That’s one of those numbers that basically means: might as well be zero.) These biofilm still need to be neutralized or flushed out — otherwise those sticky suckers can reattach downstream — but since the bacteria is now free-floating, it is easily treated.  One of the other benefits of the SpiroFlo device is that it helps keep chemical treatments suspended for longer, meaning that a company can use less chemicals and get the same result, especially as SpiroFlo scrapes the biofilm loose. As a result of these findings, this large multinational corporation has purchased SpiroFlo device for use in conjunction with Sterilex. More info is available on this page.

Here’s to having hidden solutions exposed as well.

*EDIT: Turns out the government protocol isn’t faulty, rather just so exhaustive that only Sterilex has gone through it. See here.

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Colin McKay Miller is the Marketing Manager for the SpiroFlo Holdings group of companies:

-SpiroFlo for residential hot water savings (delivered 35% faster with a 3.5% volume savings on every hot water outlet in the home) and industrial water purification (biofilm removal).

-Vortex Tools for extending the life of oil and gas wells (recovering up to 10 times more NGLs, reducing flowback startup times, replacing VRUs, eliminating paraffin and freezing in winter, etc.).

-Ecotech for cost-effective non-thermal drying (for biosolids, sugar beets, etc.) 

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What We Do: The SpiroFlo Holdings Group of Companies

While this isn’t the most thrilling way to kick off a new blog (sorry, we were out of dynamite), people do get curious about what the SpiroFlo Holdings set of companies sell. With that in mind, here’s a brief rundown:

SpiroFlo, LLC (SpiroFlo) has a patented device for residential hot water savings and industrial water purification/filtration. In 2010, SpiroFlo was the recipient of the Innovative Funding for Energy Efficiency (IFEE) grant from the Colorado Governor’s Energy Office (GEO). This SpiroFlo device is often called “a tornado in a pipe.” With no moving parts, it is virtually maintenance free.

The SpiroFlo device releasing water to atmosphere

In industrial applications, the SpiroFlo device sets up a stable spiraling flow that scrapes biofilm (and other bacteria) from the boundary layer of the pipeline wall — an area that is consistently missed by chemical treatments alone. With that said, the SpiroFlo device can also work in conjunction with these chemical treatments (including Sterilex). The stable flow created by the SpiroFlo device helps keep chemicals suspended, thereby increasing their effectiveness throughout the pipe and reducing their required frequency, use and associated costs. Independent testing and adoption from a large, multi-national has proven that the SpiroFlo device alone drastically reduces biofilm concentration from “too many to count” down to less than 100 parts per million (a number that basically means: might as well be zero).

In residential applications, the SpiroFlo device delivers hot water an average of nearly 35% faster to hot water outlets (in 4 out of 5 households) while providing up to a 5% volume savings at every hot water outlet in the home. Installed at the outset of a hot water tank, one SpiroFlo device is a whole house system. Although the SpiroFlo device can work with tankless and recirculating water systems, it does not require any of the associated costly modifications. One SpiroFlo device saves a household thousands of gallons of water a year.

Vortex Tools, LLC (Vortex) has a patented series of surface and downhole tools to help extend the flowing life, efficiency and productivity of oil and gas wells. As of this date, nearly 1,500 tools have been sold into markets worldwide.

The surface vapor elimination (SX-VRU) tool

The Vortex surface (SX) tools set up a stable, spiraling flow that keeps liquids from dropping out, prevents freezing, reduces pressures and mitigates paraffin build-up. Key applications include increased natural gas liquid (NGL) recovery, replacing pigging/drip systems, paraffin mitigation, replacing vapor recovery units (VRUs) and reducing the time to get oil and gas to sales (instead of flare) on new well flowbacks. The effects of one Vortex tool have lasted over six miles.

The Vortex downhole (DX) tools enable wells to flow below the critical rate (often down to 75% of critical) as well as lowering the bottom hole pressures and reducing surfactant use by up to 50%. Key applications include wireline retrievable intervention on marginal and declining wells, keeping coal bed methane wells free-flowing, and clearing out liquids from horizontal and vertical installations. With no moving parts, all Vortex tools are virtually maintenance free.

Ecotechnology, Ltd. (Ecotech) specializes in the cost-effective, nonthermal drying of biosolids (and a myriad of granular materials) by adding a low-grade heat (150 degrees F). These Ecotech systems can also move  and sort materials — soda ash, potash, crumb rubber, copper fines, sugar beets, etc. — with minimal degradation and pipe wear.

Using the patented EcoVeyor, the Ecotech system has the ability to convey over long-distances and through significant (even vertical) changes in elevation, no moving parts for minimal maintenance, positive environmental effects through its closed-loop design, and boosted value from lower product attrition and lower line wear for longer pipe life.

All three of these companies are under the parent company, SpiroFlo Holdings, Inc. These products are the result of over a decade and millions of dollars in research, development and testing. Nine patents have been granted to these beneficial technologies and several more are in development. Testing partners include: Texas A&M University, Texas Tech, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center (RMOTC), the Stripper Well Consortium (SWC—Penn State), the Colorado Governor’s Energy Office (GEO), and several multi-national companies.

Don’t know what some of the above terms mean? Don’t worry; we’ll be covering a number of them as the blog goes on. Or, you know, you can Google it.

Got comments or applications? Feel free to chat with us at blog (at) spiroflo (dot) com

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