Aqua Aerobic Systems product staff described cloth-media filtration technologies to the Lago Vista City Council and staff, outlining how so-called pile cloth media removes suspended solids and can be applied as tertiary filtration, for wet-weather flow management, or as a compact replacement for primary clarifiers (AquaPrime).

Presenting engineer Josh Gable walked the council through the media design, the backwash process and several product form factors, including AquaDisc, MiniDisc, AlphaMega, AquaDiamond (for retrofitting deep-bed sand filters) and a pressure-series unit for pressurized systems. He also described a pilot and rental fleet that can be deployed to test performance onsite.

Gable summarized the technology’s advantages and experience: cloth-media forms a three-dimensional fiber matrix that captures solids and can be backwashed with internal clean water and a vacuum-like system; typical media life was described as seven to 10 years. Gable said Aqua Aerobic’s industry experience includes a large number of regional installations (examples cited in greater Austin, Grapevine and San Antonio), and that the company can provide pilot or rental systems “to verify that we can provide solutions that are going to work for you.”

Costs and next steps: Council members pressed for ballpark pricing and deployment options. A company representative said a one-million-gallon-per-day modular system was generally estimated at under $1 million, with a number of variables affecting final price; the presenter said rental/pilot units are available for short-term testing. Councilmembers discussed using a modular approach as a lower-cost pathway to upgrade Lago Vista’s treatment from a “type 2” to a “type 1” class of effluent for irrigation of city athletic fields and parks, which could lower potable irrigation costs and free plant capacity.

What the council asked staff to do: Council members requested additional written responses to technical and cost questions posted to the city’s council discussion board and expressed interest in scheduling site visits to nearby installations and a potential pilot test before committing to design or procurement.

Key quote: Aqua Aerobic Product Manager Josh Gable said, “It’s easy to make a media that’s going to remove solids, but it’s not easy to make a media that’s going to work effectively over a long period of time,” and described the company’s ongoing R&D and Gen 5 media improvements.