'There are hundreds of plants around the world that are using (the membrane system) for everything from drinking water treatment to wastewater treatment to water reuse," Kobilnyk said. "Now the technology is even being used in sea water desalination plants ... for pre-treatment of the water that's coming out of the ocean. Quite often, there is a lot of silt and debris in sea water. We're using our superior filtration membrane to give desalination systems the best possible water to work with."

Kobilnyk says the company specializes in improving water quality and dealing with water issues that exist in sensitive ecosystems, such as in the wetlands surrounding the Jordan River, where the district's new plant will be located. After the wastewater is treated, some of it will flow freely into the river.

"What we're seeing is that, everywhere in the world, pollution is becoming more of a concern and discharge regulations are becoming tighter, so municipalities and industries are having to find ways to meet regulations in the most cost-effective way that they can," Kobilnyk said. "Our technology really provides a vehicle to accomplish that."

Through a process of sucking liquid through tens of thousands of long, hollow, string-like tubes that have billions of microscopic pores on their surface, South Valley Sewer District's wastewater will be cleaned and transformed into water that will be used in Riverton's secondary irrigation system.

To Riverton Mayor Bill Applegarth, the quality of water that will be produced by the sewer district is a major bonus to the town, which has received a $500,000 federal grant to help build a pump system to use the water.

"This membrane process means that the water going back into the Jordan River from the sewer plant is cleaner than the water that comes in from Utah Lake," Applegarth said. "It's actually cleaning up the Jordan River, which is a tremendous advantage in my perspective. For me, I feel really strongly about the Jordan River and protecting the Jordan River, and this is a really neat thing that will happen as a result to that."

---

E-mail: achoate@desnews.com