"Unprecedented Results" Explained in SNN Live Interview with Dennis Calvert- President & CEO of BioLargo

SNN Interviews Dennis Calvert
President and CEO of BioLargo, Inc.
Symbol: BLGO

"Unprecedented Results" explained.

The AOS Filter - Link to Interview Here

"Unprecedented Results" Explained - LD Micro Presentation- A Shareholder Update

Dear Shareholder, 

We continue to refine our AOS Filter and expand trials on various contaminants as we prepare for commercial pilots. Our commitment to research in this area is considerable and dynamic. Our research team expanded to include three dedicated PhD researchers working for our subsidiary, BioLargo Water (Canada). Our offices and our lab are located within the University of Alberta research center at 'Discovery Place'. Our staff is led by Richard Smith, PhD and our Chief Science Officer, Ken Code and they all are backed up by extensive resources of the University. Our focused work is paying off. Our trial results are, by all accounts, "unprecedented" and the commercial opportunities have been referred to as "endless" by top independent researchers. 

We agree. 

We have three bold claims backed by test results at the University of Alberta. When compared to competing technologies focused on eliminating contaminants in water- test results with the AOS Filter show that our technology is: 

100 x more effective 
>10 x faster 
1/20th the cost/power 

To help illustrate: 

We recently completed a study to validate the AOS Filter's ability to eradicate Salmonella.

Salmonella is a problem: 
100,000 cells = infection 
94 million cases reported /yr (WHO) 
155,000 deaths annually (WHO) 
USDA Reports USA cost at ≈ $2.65B/yr 

Results: BioLargo AOS Filter: 
*10,000,000 cells 
*2 min. for total kill 

This rate of effectiveness is 'unprecedented'. 

To help illustrate just how 'unprecedented', the results can be compared the performance to an industry standard chlorine dioxide- 

Chlorine Dioxide 
*100,000 cells 
 *60 min. for total kill 

Our dramatic results help illustrate the extremely high levels of oxidation achieved within the AOS Filter / reactor. We shatter the records set by our competition. The study is being prepared for publication and we hope to share these soon. 

Armed with results like these, we believe that our commercial opportunities within the oil and gas industry and the industrial food processing industry are obvious and big. We are anxious and pressing ahead to push towards commercialization as soon as possible. We are targeting first commercial trials in the next six to nine months. We have a number of interested parties in discussions with us and we are busy refining the design of our AOS Filter to help insure that we meet the specific demands of these trials. 

Additionally, we expect to announce soon, the completion of the first grants to help support our ongoing research. We continue to work diligently to successfully license our consumer products related assets and expand sales to the US Government. Our work with Clyra Medical is advancing slowly due to our limited resources, but it is advancing, and we are anxious to accelerate that work. Our license of the Isan technology to Clarion Water is good and deserves more explanation in the future. We have initiated discussions with a number of potential strategic alliance partners within the water industry and we believe that area of focus will pay off. We will report again soon as these various initiatives move ahead. 

We presented an overview at the LD Micro Investment conference last week. 
(Click this safe link to view the presentation) 

Please help us spread the word and call me for an update anytime. I welcome a chance to speak with you! This is a very exciting time for BioLargo and I look forward to sharing more soon! 

Dennis P. Calvert 
President & CEO 
BioLargo, Inc. 
949-643-9540 x 1 


Forward Looking Statement Disclaimer-The statements contained herein, which are not historical, are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties included in BioLargo's current and future filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those set forth in BioLargo's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013.

"Unprecedented Results" - Explained: BioLargo's presentation at LD Micro 2014 - Showcasing the BioLargo AOS Filter

Press Release: BioLargo issued patent for its platform of liquid and hydrogel iodine technologies

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Expanding intellectual property estate and new unprecedented results drive innovation at BioLargo

SANTA ANA, CA – BioLargo, Inc. (OTCQB: BLGO) announced today the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued patent 8,846,067 titled “antimicrobial solutions and methods” which covers the use of BioLargo’s iodine technology in its platform of liquid and hydrogel solutions. The liquid and gel technologies are foundational to multiple products sold under various brands by BioLargo’s subsidiary companies, including Nature’s Best Solution, NBS, Odor-No-More, and Deodorall. The new patent also covers the wound gel and wound cleanser products in final stages of development at BioLargo subsidiary Clyra MedicalTechnologies, Inc., being readied for application for FDA approval and licensure. The patent also covers other liquid and gel products in development for disinfection (such as to control bacteria, fungi, spores and viruses), as well as odor control. Additionally, the patent covers the potential use of the company’s hydrogel when combined with boron to provide a barrier/absorption technology for radiation leaks.

Regarding the newly issued patent, BioLargo Chief Science Officer Kenneth R. Code stated, “This is the 5^th patent issued in 2014, and once again shows the novelty and usefulness of our iodine technologies.  These liquid and gel applications are being sold, evaluated, tested or trialed by various strategic alliance candidates, licensing candidates, and granting authorities across multiple industry segments.  We are in discussions now with a number of companies and research colleagues that may use our technology to gain market share through licensure.” Dennis Calvert, President and CEO of BioLargo added, “Our liquid and gel systems compete at the highest levels with all other disinfecting products.  By comparison, our products are environmentally friendly, gentle, non-toxic, non-staining and simple to use, with no known microbial resistance capability.  Our intellectual property estate is expanding rapidly as our third party validations continue to demonstrate new unprecedented results.”

BioLargo's AOS Filter Wins "Technology Star Award" - New Technology Magazine -The First Word on Oil Patch Innovation

Nature Shows The Way

Category: Feature

Published: 2014-Nov-06Author: Jim Bentein

Tags: : Water Treatment

TECHNOLOGY STARS WINNER: HEALTH, SAFETY & ENVIRONMENT

Advanced disinfectant technology developer sets sights on oil and gas applications

A small publicly-listed Santa Ana, Calif.–based company that is developing water purification and advanced disinfectant technologies, all using some form of iodine, sees one of its Edmonton-developed technologies as a way to clean up and even eliminate oilsands mining tailings ponds.

“With our technology you can reduce the footprint of and even eliminate tailings ponds,” says Dennis Calvert, president and chief executive officer of BioLargo Inc., which is listed on the OTC bulletin board [Symbol: BLGO] in the United States.

Despite its small size, the company has secured 12 U.S. patents for its iodine-based technologies and has another eight pending for what Calvert calls multi-billion dollar business opportunities.

And while that might sound like hype, the company’s water purification and disinfectant technology developed by Edmonton-based inventor Kenneth R. Code, from whom BioLargo purchased the rights to the iodine-dosing system concept in 2007 (he remains its chief science officer), is expected to be piloted at an oilsands mining site in the next year or so.

The road to commercial application of its Advanced Oxidation System (AOS) Filter technology to treat water in oilsands tailings and in other water treatment applications is well advanced. The company is a founding member of a research chair launched about three years ago at the University of Alberta (U of A) focused on evaluating technologies to help solve contaminated water issues in the oilsands.

That chair, sponsored by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, includes membership by such oilsands industry giants as Syncrude Canada Ltd., Suncor Energy Ltd., Royal Dutch Shell plc and Canadian Natural Resources Limited, along with Alberta Innovates and Environment Canada. Calvert says laboratory tests of the AOS Filter at the U of A led to significant validation of the technology in preparation for the tailings pond field pilot test.

The company is also exploring many other opportunities for deploying its technology. “The most rapid adoption is likely to be in the area of [treating and disinfecting] industrial produced water,” he says. “Tailings ponds will happen more slowly because of the scale.”

The most likely areas where the company’s iodine-based technologies will be adopted are in the food processing and refining sectors, he says.

“We believe our technology is world-class,” says Calvert. He adds that the BioLargo technology will eventually be deployed in developing nations, where the quality of drinking water is an urgent health issue. “It could also end up under the kitchen sink,” where the effectiveness of existing water filtration systems could be accelerated using the company’s technology.

But for now the company is continuing to work with U of A researchers to prove up its approach in treating tailings water. It is also working with Lynn McMullen, U of A professor in the department of Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Science, who is researching the use of the AOS Filter in food processing, livestock and other agricultural sectors. [Referring to the results as 'unprecedented with endless applications within the food industry']

However, as a small company with limited financial flexibility (it has raised $15 million in private equity), the company is concentrating on strategic partnerships and on the speedy adoption of its technology in a variety of industries.

NUMEROUS APPLICATIONS

“We think of ourselves as a platform technology company,” Calvert says. “We have a number of initiatives that are starting to generate revenue. We’re focused on selling the licence [for the technology] to established companies.”

To speed up adoption and generate revenue, the company is working with other firms involved in the pet care sector, since its technology can be used for odour abatement, and in the medical sector, where iodine-based solutions are used for advanced wound care.

Last year it announced it had sold a version of its technology called Suction Canister Solidifiers to the U.S. Army Medical Agency, where the product will be used in triage and surgery during troop deployment. It had previously sold a version of the technology that solidifies bodily fluids and eliminates odours to a medical facility at Langley Air Force Base.

That product design was developed by its Clyra Technology division, which has developed super absorbent pads and wound dressings, woven and non-woven wound dressings and other medical products, all of which have earned or are awaiting U.S. patents. Although no dollar figures were announced related to the arrangement, the product could now be deployed by all U.S. military forces, representing a significant market, Calvert says.

In mid-August the company announced it had entered into a manufacturing and distribution licence deal for its Isan precision iodine dosing system with Clarion Water, a new operating division of InsulTech Manufacturing LLC, which has more than 20 years of commercial success worldwide in the water disinfection sector.

Based on the use of iodine, which Calvert calls “a powerful, broad-spectrum biocide,” the Isan disinfection system is seen as “the logical replacement for chlorine in applications involving irrigation supply and post-­harvest sanitation,” he says. It delivers iodine with exact precision for fortification, or depending on the application, it can take it back out.

It will initially concentrate on the agricultural sector. Clarion has already marketed the Isan system in Australia and New Zealand and will now market it worldwide. Under the licence agreement, BioLargo received a $100,000 payment upfront and will earn a royalty on sales for the next two years.

MAGIC OF IODINE

Iodine is common to all the applications BioLargo is involved in. The chemical element, the heaviest essential element used widely in biological functions, has long been known as the broadest spectrum, most powerful disinfectant known. Even NASA recognizes iodine’s unique qualities, the company notes, using it as the only water disinfection process on all manned space flights.

“All of the work that we have done over the years is to advance our technology for the use of iodine across a number of different market segments,” says Calvert.

The AOS Filter technology, a new invention that has been developed by the company in the last three years, deploys the power of iodine and electrolysis using a kind of steady shower technology that decontaminates and removes odours at one-twentieth the cost of existing approaches, Calvert says. In addition, there is little power consumption when the technology is deployed.

 

“We’re enhancing the performance of widely understood technologies,” says Calvert. “In testing we validated that our AOS Filter was able to dismantle and remove [contam­inants] in seconds versus hours [with other technologies].”

He further explains how the technology works. “What we have done is we have taken an oxidizer, iodine, and we have combined it with well-understood technologies like carbon, filter media, ceramics or membrane technologies, and when we combine those components, we can extract contaminants from the water flow. What is unique about the invention is that we have combined traditional filter media with an oxidizing technology and electricity, which then allows the device to provide an oxidation potential across the surface area of the filter media at an incredibly effective rate.

“What it means basically is we have taken a filter, and we have converted it into a reactor, so we can then operate at very high flow rates and at incredibly low levels of energy. So the device features high rates of oxidation, low power consumption, high speed and continuous flow.”

OIL AND GAS FIX

In the oilsands sector, contaminants such as naphthenic acid and bacteria must be dealt with in water treatment. In addition, there are such hard-to-treat contaminants as acids, ammonias, solvents and dioxane.

Many of the same contaminants are common in other oil and gas processes, such as hydraulic fracturing. BioLargo’s technology could be used to treat recycled water in many areas of the oil and gas industry.

At the U of A, the tests were conducted on contaminated water taken from oilsands tailings, “and the work has proven our effectiveness of dismantling and removing targeted naphthenic acids,” he says.

It now costs an estimated $2.50–$3 per barrel to treat contaminated water in the oilsands mining sector, according to Calvert. “We can do it for a fraction of the cost.”

BioLargo’s suite of technologies has attracted some respected executives to the company. Harry DeLonge, now a senior adviser at the company, was formerly a vice-president of manufacturing technologies with beverage and snack food giant Pepsi-Cola International. Vikram Rao, another senior adviser, spent 30 years with oilfield service giant Halliburton Company, most recently serving as its senior vice-president, senior strategy adviser and chief technology officer.

Tanya Rhodes, a former vice-president of innovation and wound management with pharmaceutical industry giant Smith & Nephew Wound Management, is a senior adviser with BioLargo’s Clyra Medical division.

Calvert says the company’s motto is “We make life better,” reflecting the importance of clean water [food safety & wound healing) to humanity. “We think it’s our right to have clean drinking water, but the investment is so high [to achieve that goal] that it isn’t feasible. But we bring an economically viable technology to the table at a fraction of the cost of other approaches.”

Kris Cudmore, who heads Grande Prairie, Alta.–based water logistics company White Water Management Ltd., is so impressed with BioLargo’s technology he wants to get in touch with the company to try it out in the oil and gas production areas where his company works, in northwestern Alberta and northeastern British Columbia.

“We’ve been looking at iodine-based electrolysis technology,” says Cudmore, president of the five-year-old company. “We’re trying to figure out what the best technology is. I’d like to reach out to them.”

White Water, which supplies water for hydraulic fracturing and other oil and gas uses and also works on water issues in the forestry sector, regularly assesses different approaches to water treatment and recycling. Cudmore says iodine-based treatments make sense. “It [will] be a multi-million dollar technology,” if it works as promoted, he says.

He’s hopeful the technology will reduce the salinity in treated water, which is a major issue. But after having investigated various approaches to treating water, he says he is impressed with BioLargo’s approach.

Water use will only grow as an issue in northern Alberta and northern British Columbia, Cudmore says, and BioLargo’s technology has a huge potential market in the oil and gas industry and other sectors if it works “as it appears,” he says.

His company, which sets up large water storage tanks and pumps water from as far as 24 kilometres away for fracking jobs and treats grey water from Alberta municipalities such as Fox Creek, Rocky Mountain House and Edson for use in fracking, would definitely use BioLargo’s approach if it is as effective as the company suggests.

By Jim Bentein

** Reproduced with permission from New Technology Magazine (wwww.newtechmagazine.com)

CONTACT FOR MORE INFORMATION

Dennis Calvert, BioLargo Inc.                                                                               
Tel: 949-643-9540
Email: dennis.calvert@biolargo.com

SNN Article: Game-Changing Technology for $350 Billion Water Treatment Industry Validated by the University of Alberta

Game-Changing Technology for $350 Billion Water Treatment Industry Validated by the University of Alberta 

This is an update from an article originally published in MicroCap Review Summer/Fall 2014 Issue. Here, BioLargo's CEO explains what University of Alberta's validation of BioLargo's AOS Water Filtration Technology means to the company. See the Link to the Actual Article Here

Tuesday, October 21, 2014   By Dennis Calvert, CEO of BioLargo, Inc.Company Profile Page: BioLargo, Inc. (OTCQB: BLGO) 

 Scientists at the University of Alberta, Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science validated the unprecedented effectiveness of BioLargo’s (BLGO) AOS Filter in removing contaminants from water. The tests demonstrated a level of efficiency that has never been seen before in destroying highly concentrated contaminants in sample water, including Listeria and Salmonella.Although the testing is applicable in many areas, food safety was a primary concern of this most recent work. Professor Lynn McMullen evaluated the results and commented, "The AOS Filter technology could be highly efficient in solving food safety problems and may be applied to improve food quality with the potential to improve storage life. The potential applications of the BioLargo AOS filter in the food industry could be endless -- from primary commodities to finished food products."Professor McMullen further explained, "At the foundation of the AOS Filter is its efficiency in generating a highly oxidative state. The data supports its potential to accomplish high-level disinfection that can be useful in multiple markets including food processing and agriculture production. Extremely high levels of performance [disinfection] were achieved during testing and we are excited to expand the work with BioLargo to other applications targeting food safety concerns."This work follows on the heels of validation work by the University of Alberta in eliminating soluble organic contaminants like those found in the controversial and massive oil sands tailings ponds in Alberta, Canada. The AOS Filter was found to decontaminate actual field samples of toxic “produced water” at high speeds and low costs never before seen.

Oil Sands production is now the largest means of producing oil globally, but it comes with the price of requiring enormous amounts of toxic water to be disposed of after it releases the oil from the sand. Alberta is known to be the second largest oil reserve in the world and this “produced water” from oil recovery is being stored in tailings ponds in Alberta that are already up to 170 square kilometers and growing because there is no other place to put the wastewater. A recent government report claims that over 10 million gallons per day of this toxic water is leaking into the Athebasca river that is the primary source of clean water for Alberta.BioLargo (BLGO) was selected as a founding member of a Canadian NSERC “research chair” formed to solve the contaminated water and tailings ponds problems associated with the oil sands industry.

Led by University of Alberta Professor Mohamed Gamal-El Din, a leading expert in the area of water treatment and advanced oxidation, and funded by the Canadian government through the University of Alberta’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the primary area of focus of the “NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Oil Sands Tailings Water Treatment” is to develop proactive water management strategies to dramatically reduce the footprint and environmental impact of existing tailings ponds operations.

This validation by the University of Alberta points to the growing excitement for our significant commercial opportunity across multiple industries. We have already demonstrated the AOS Filter's ability to dismantle organic molecules commonly trapped in water, in 'seconds vs. hours' and at extremely low power levels. It is believed to offer a low cost solution when compared to all other technologies.Now, by expanding the work to include high-level disinfection within the food and agriculture industry, we can confidently point to the expanded scope of our future commercial markets. We are confident that the AOS Filter can dramatically impact every segment of the $350 billion water industry.We believe that many market opportunities will include strategic alliances and joint venture partners to exploit such a large opportunity as ours.

We look forward to sharing additional scientific results as the various researcher teams publish them. We are very excited about this milestone, the expanding work within the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science at the University of Alberta, and the massive commercial future for our AOS Filter.

"For more information about BioLargo, Inc. - www.BioLargo.com

BioLargo Achieves Major Milestone - Advancing its AOS Filter towards Commercialization

Press Release

–Industry Expert Validates Unprecedented Effectiveness in Removing Contaminants from Water

SANTA ANA, CA – September 29^th, 2014 – BioLargo, Inc. (OTCQB: BLGO) announced that scientists at the University of Alberta Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science tested and validated its Advanced Oxidation System (AOS) Filter for use in food and agriculture. This work follows on the heels of validation work by the University of Alberta’s Department of Engineering for its use in eliminating soluble organic contaminants like those found in oilsands tailings ponds.

The tests validated unprecedented effectiveness in destroying highly concentrated contaminants in sample water, including Listeria and Salmonella.  Although the testing is applicable in many areas, food safety was a primary concern of this most recent work. Professor Lynn McMullen evaluated the results and commented, “The AOS Filter technology could be highly efficient in solving food safety problems and may be applied to improve food quality with the potential to improve storage life.  The potential applications of the BioLargo AOS filter in the food industry could be endless – from primary commodities to finished food products.”

She further explained, “At the foundation of the AOS Filter is its efficiency in generating a highly oxidative state.  The data supports its potential to accomplish high-level disinfection that can be useful in multiple markets including food processing and agriculture production. Extremely high levels of performance [disinfection] were achieved during testing and we are excited to expand the work with BioLargo to other applications targeting food safety concerns.”

The company intends to expand its focus to include commercial opportunities for its AOS Filter within the agriculture and food processing industry.  Its commercial success will depend upon commercial scale testing, finalizing design and engineering, refining target markets and proving efficacy, as well as general business sales, distribution and/or licensing resources, and appropriate regulatory approvals where needed.

Dennis Calvert, President of BioLargo, stated: “This validation further demonstrates the effectiveness of our AOS Filter technology and it points to the growing excitement for our significant commercial opportunity across multiple industries. We have already demonstrated the AOS Filter’s ability to dismantle organic molecules commonly trapped in water, in ‘seconds vs. hours’ and at extremely low power levels.  It is believed to offer a low cost solution when compared to all other technologies.  Now, by expanding the work to include high-level disinfection within the food and agriculture industry, we can confidently point to the expanded scope of our future commercial markets. We believe the AOS Filter will dramatically impact every segment of the $350 billion water industry. We believe that many market opportunities will include strategic alliances and joint venture partners to exploit such a large opportunity as ours.  We look forward to sharing additional scientific results as the various researcher teams publish them.  We are very excited about this milestone, the expanding work within the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science at the University of Alberta, and the massive commercial future for our AOS Filter.”

BioLargo’s Odor-No-More Gains More Traction with its Largest Government Order to Date

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SANTA ANA, CA – BioLargo, Inc. (OTCQB: BLGO) announced today its Odor-No-More subsidiary was awarded a contract for 885 cases (total order approximately $50,000) of its Specimen Transport Solidifier Pouches from the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency (DLA – www.dla.mil), through its distributor Downeast Logistics.  The Specimen Transport Solidifiers are small absorbent pouches containing BioLargo’s patent- protected technology and sold under the “NBS” brand. They are used by the military as a safety measure in the event of a spill during the transport of blood, urine and other hazardous medical liquids. The company is producing the products for the order, and plans to fulfill the order in early October. This is the largest of many small orders from the DLA.

Additionally, the company has received initial orders for its Suction Canister Solidifiers for troop deployment kits (Assemblages) as well as new orders and reorders from multiple MMFs (Military Medical Facilities), including but not limited to the Langley and Fort Knox hospitals.

Odor-No-More has also received a series of small opening orders for “private label” products in which each customer plans to sell products containing BioLargo’s patented technology under their own brand. The products are being resold into the Janitorial, Hospitality and Pet Products industries in the U.S. as well as other countries.  More Private Label projects are in the works.

Dennis Calvert, President & CEO of BioLargo commented, “These are just a few examples of how our odor-control technology is finding its way to market. Our investment of time and money in advancing our technology, and refining our products, has enabled us to create top-performing and award-winning products.  We are encouraged and each of these small steps helps to expand our business and opens new opportunities for sales and new products.”

BioLargo Featured in MicroCap Review Magazine

BioLargo, Inc. was recently featured in MicroCap Review’s Summer/Fall 2014 print and online issues. BioLargo is featured on page 30 in an article titled, “Is BioLargo’s ‘AOS Filter’ the World’s Most Valuable Technology?” where the author discusses the company’s Advanced Oxidation System (AOS) Filter solution and its multiple applications in the $360 billion water industry. The full article and publication can be found at www.MicroCapReview.com.

Is BioLargo’s “AOS Filter” The World’s Most Valuable Technology?

Water is now being called ‘the new gold’ because usable water is growing scarce and is arguably our planet’s most valuable resource.  We use it to produce oil and gas. We power our cities and run our factories with it. We grow crops and feed livestock with it. Like the air we breathe, water is essential for life. Relative to the seemingly endless supply of water, ‘usable water’ is becoming more difficult to find while demand continues to increase.

Two thirds of the surface of our planet is covered with water, but 97% is saltwater and not usable for consumption, agriculture or most other industrial purposes. There are countless desalinization plants around the globe, but there is no technology that converts salt water to fresh water cost-effectively and in the vast amounts needed. Of all the water on the planet, less than 1% is fresh water. That freshwater is found in rivers, lakes and groundwater, but flooding, natural disasters, and industrialization are rapidly polluting much of that and reducing it even further.

One of many sources of water pollution comes from the recovery and refining processes to produce the oil and gas we need for our homes, our cars and our factories. It is estimated that oil production will have to double in the next 20 years just to keep up with the increased demand. That may seem like a challenging but achievable objective, but with the advent of non-conventional, but essential supply sources like oil sands and shale gas, meeting that goal could require 4 gallons of water to produce one gallon of oil from oil sands or fracking, and another 4 gallons of water to refine one gallon of gas. In light of the heavy water requirements, the heavy water pollution, and the growing opposition to water pollution, the goal to expand energy production suddenly becomes daunting.

There are two formidable obstacles related to the water that is absolutely essential to the oil industry. First, there is a shortage in many regions that is already acting as a restraint on production. Second, the enormous amounts of wastewater produced from the recovery process is increasing the threat of toxic contamination of rivers, lakes and groundwater, and is becoming an economic and political barrier to further oil and gas production until more usable water can be found and until the toxic wastewater can be decontaminated quickly, cost-effectively, and safely returned to the earth.

The massive amounts of wastewater from oil recovery, fracking and refining are problematic, but are only the tip of the iceberg. According to EPA estimates, oil & gas and mining use about 1% of the useable water supply while agriculture uses about 37%. The wastewater from oil & gas and mining is highly toxic, but the wastewater from agriculture also contains large amounts of toxic chemicals and nutrients that are polluting much of the remaining usable water. Furthermore, the United Nations estimates that up to 90% of toxic wastewater in developing countries is sent untreated into rivers and open water bodies.

Agriculture and oil and gas are not the only source of contaminants threatening our water supply. Mining, industrial manufacturing, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals greatly add to the problem. Evidence of the enormous scope of contaminated water is supported by the fact that there are close to a hundred different wastewater treatment technologies.

If any of the traditional solutions were truly cost-effective at a scale capable of tackling these high volume needs, then there would be no problem. We would have ample clean and safe water for all our needs, but the simple truth is that not one of these traditional technologies works well enough to solve the entire problem. They are often too costly and they typically do not process adequate volumes in a short time frame.  With the high cost and lengthy time of current water treatment technologies, supply shortages and price increases for clean water seem inevitable.

The Global Water Intelligence reports that water is estimated to be a $360 billion-dollar industry and that fact helps explains why there are so many competing technologies. Just one tiny little sliver of $360 billion is a lot of money. Clearly, a technology that could cost-effectively decontaminate water from agriculture, oil and gas, industrial, and mining operations would be extremely valuable.

Biolargo’s Patented AOS Filter was recently validated in proof of concept testing at the University of Alberta. It was shown effective at dismantling recalcitrant contaminants (the most difficult and hard to manage) in seconds versus hours, and, further, it accomplished the task at 1/20^th the power consumption of the nearest competitor, pointing to its future as a disruptive contender in just about every water industry segment.

Iodine is the broadest and most potent disinfectant known. BioLargo’s AOS Filter combines iodine with well-understood technologies like carbon filter media, ceramics or membrane technologies to extract contaminates from a water-flow. The BioLargo AOS Filter converts a traditional filter mechanism into a reactor by adding electricity and oxidizing chemistry across the surface area of the filter media.  The device delivers powerful oxidization to dismantle contaminants as they flow through the filter, all the while consuming an incredibly low level of energy. The device features high rates of oxidation, low power, high speed and a continuous flow. The dismantled contaminants are small enough in size that most of them pass through the filter without clogging. AOS therefore greatly extends the filter life.

The net result is expected to yield unparalleled cost effectiveness.

BioLargo’s AOS Filter is Well Positioned

University of Alberta has begun a pilot study to design and build a commercial version of BioLargo’s AOS Filter to prove scalability as well as optimize its functionality for use in the oil sands and across a host of other water treatment segments.

BioLargo recently announced it achieved another important milestone in the pilot testing of the device successfully replicating earlier proof of claim results and it confirmed the role of advanced oxidation within the AOS Filter reactor.  This recent pilot work included bench-scale testing of contaminated water taken from actual field operations and it has proven the AOS Filter’s effectiveness at dismantling and removing targeted naphthenic acids, which are considered high-value and hard to contain contaminants of keen interest to the oil sands industry for more than 15 years.

Professor Lynn McMullen at the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science at the University of Alberta, recently agreed to expand the AOS Filter pilot testing into areas of interest in food processing and agricultural production, including livestock related areas. The initial targets include clean in place (CIP), carcass and food washing and animal drinking water applications.

BioLargo is a founding member of a research chair sponsored by NSERC, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, which organized in 2011 to solve the wastewater tailings ponds problem. Other founding members joining BioLargo include Suncor Energy, Syncrude Canada, Shell Canada, and Canadian Natural Resources, EPCOR, Environment Canada and Alberta Innovates.  

BioLargo’s CEO, Dennis Calvert commented, “Our business is very exciting and certainly dynamic. Our patented technology is right on the leading edge and our AOS Filter has recently opened up a huge commercial opportunity for BioLargo. Our company’s culture is entrepreneurial at heart and we thrive on the challenge and adventure to create, validate and commercialize our break-through technologies.  Our Chief Science Officer, Kenneth Reay Code continues to set the technical performance bar to the highest standards and his discipline has proven invaluable as we introduce new technology to industry and gain acceptance. Our team is comprised of an impressive list of associates that are both leaders and patent holders from the top ranks of industry.  Our future is quite bright.”

BioLargo’s mission is to make life better. It has the technology, the team, and the driving purpose to succeed. BioLargo is a platform technology company that expects to generate the bulk of is revenues through licensing its AOS Filter and other platform technologies it developed that have important application in water, healthcare, energy, and consumer products segments.

The AOS Filter is expected to have a powerful impact on all uses of water around the world.