New Technology Magazine

RG Global To Provide Innovative Water Treatment For CBM Production

[Daily News] RG Global Lifestyles, Inc. has signed a multi-year contract with a major independent oil and gas operator in Wyoming, for RG Global to construct and operate a water treatment plant employing RG Global's proprietary ion exchange technology (Catalyx Technology) that will remove sodium, barium, iron and other inorganic contaminants from the wastewater associated with coal bed methane (CBM) production.
The first facility will be designed to treat 20,000 barrels per day of wastewater from CBM operations at the Powder River Basin in Wyoming. RG Global expects to begin construction within 90 days and be operational in the second quarter of 2007.

RG Global anticipates that its new partner will need to treat more than 100,000 barrels of wastewater per day for CBM harvesting sites in Wyoming. This will be the first of several plants to be constructed over the next 36 months.

RG Global chairman and CEO Louis Knickerbocker said, "We are very pleased that we have been selected to construct and operate our first multi-million dollar facility in Wyoming for the treatment of the wastewater that is produced from the harvesting of natural gas. Our technology allows operators to cost effectively harvest the natural gas, while protecting the environment and advancing energy independence for our country in the future."

CBM production produces copious amounts of ground water, which contains unacceptable levels of contaminants and minerals. RGBL's Catalyx Technology removes the sodium and contaminants that pose an environmental threat, making more than 99% of the water fit for discharge or irrigation. Other technologies produce up to 15% byproduct waste stream. Disposal of this waste is costly. The Catalyx Technology minimizes waste, which translates to major cost savings for the gas producer/operator.

Existing technologies have been unable to sufficiently treat water to meet Montana and Wyoming's stringent sodium absorption ratio (SAR) discharge standards, resulting in the shut down of hundreds of well and drilling operations in these and other areas. In many cases, this filtration technology and cost reduction could mean the difference between operating and shutting down a site.

"Our technology exceeds the most stringent state and federal requirement for discharge of CBM wastewater and is more cost effective than the competition," RG Global chief technology officer Jangbarwala explained. "This major advancement in wastewater treatment has the potential to enable as many as 8,000 CBM operations to reopen or commence in Wyoming alone."

A Jan. 18, 2007 article in the Jackson Hole Star Tribune cited that there are only three CBM discharge wastewater treatment plants currently in operation in Wyoming, all operating at capacity. Much of the water is trucked extended distances to be treated, adding to production costs. A major advantage of RG Global's wastewater treatment plant is their low cost to construct and operate because they are monitored remotely in real time, enabling instantaneous responses to changing conditions with minimal overhead.

"Within the next two years, RG Global plans to construct six wastewater treatment plants capable of treating 1.1 billion gallons of water per year," Jangbarwala stated. "We are currently in discussions with multiple energy company for additional contracts. We believe these could significantly enhance the harvest of one of the cleaner forms of energy in the U.S."

RG Global Lifestyles, Inc. is the parent company of wholly owned subsidiary Aquair, Inc. Aquair was formed for the express purpose of developing and distributing quality industrial and residential water products using the latest in water production and treatment technologies to provide pure safe water around the world. RG Global's products address many water quality issues, including remedying the increasingly prevalent microbial water supply contamination and contamination resulting from oil and gas production.