At the core of Frontier Water Systems’ advanced equipment solutions is a novel biological treatment process. Employing a unique two-stage bioreactor, Frontier’s approach relies on the power of naturally occurring bacteria to efficiently remove contaminants such as nitrate, selenium, and heavy metals from impacted water streams. To further enhance the treated water quality, Frontier couples the biological treatment technology with state-of-the-art membrane filtration.

THE SeHAWK® process

The patented SeHAWK® process combines a first stage upflow bioreactor with a second stage downflow biofilter to create a compact treatment solution. Naturally occurring bacteria cultured in the reactor are fed BioElix® nutrient that facilitates the biological transformation of contaminants. In the first stage bioreactor, nitrate is transformed to nitrogen gas and is continually released from the system. In the second stage biofilter, selenium and metals are converted to solid, disposable products that are filtered out of the water stream.

THE NiteHAWK™ PROCESS

NiteHAWK™ is Frontier Water Systems’ process for drinking water treatment that tackles nitrate and a wide range of common contaminants in a single equipment package. The advanced, two-stage biological process efficiently removes nitrate, perchlorate, arsenic, pesticides and many VOCs/SOCs from drinking water sources without the production of significant liquid waste streams. After contaminants are eliminated, the water is further purified through an integrated ultrafilter, removing particles, bacteria and viruses to create the highest-quality drinking water.

Prefabricated Approach to Bioreactor Equipment

Traditional biofilters entrain gas, which results in an increased equipment size. The integration of an upflow bioreactor and a downflow biofilter into one process significantly decreases this footprint. Additionally, Frontier Water utilizes a modular, prefabricated approach to bioreactor design which provides treatment flow flexibility while reducing installed costs.

Applying Membranes for Enhanced Water Quality

To produce the highest quality water in the most efficient equipment package, Frontier integrates biological treatment with ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis membranes.

Frontier applies ultrafiltration membrane technology in situations where low-level contaminant removal is required to polish any particles exiting the bioreactor. Tiny, hollow membrane fiber bundles employ an outside in filtration path to remove particles in water streams down to 0.01 microns. The membrane pore size is so small that suspended solids, bacteria, and viruses are removed from the water stream.

Frontier Water systems continues to innovate through the application of reverse osmosis (RO) to preconcentrate contaminants into a low volume stream for treatment through the bioreactor, thus further reducing the bioreactor equipment footprint. RO consists of a semipermeable membrane which filters nearly all contaminants and minerals out of the water, concentrating them into a low volume brine stream. This brine stream flows through the Frontier bioreactor to eliminate contaminants and is then recombined with the RO permeate stream, resulting in overall contaminant removal to ultra-low levels.