#31: Do Metal Removal Units (MRU’s) Freeze in the Winter?
Dibert: So I’m out here to talk to Colin Lennox, the Director of EcoIslands LLC and he’s going to explain to me how he’s doing some work to keep things clean and running here.
Lennox: Johnny, thank you very much, its always a pleasure to be working with you.
Hi All, Its fifteen, sixteen degrees out (F). We are back at Deitrich site here outside of Blairsville (PA).
In 2018 we had an inordinate amount of rain almost double for central Pennsylvania, where we are right now, and we did a video called “during the flood” (actual is Flood Bypass in the Metal Removal Unit) or something along those lines with one of our representatives, Greg Halfling. (Spirit Airline flight goes right over us).
Just wanted to show you the spreader bar, its 15 degrees (…) and winter time, summer time (shrugs) it doesn’t really matter.
I just wanted to show you the ice on the spreader bar there and we just came onto site and over here we have two 2017 (Mk)307-M’s, 750 gallon in volume self- organizing wetland bioreactors. For the mining community we call them MRU’s, Metal Removal Units. Uh, and everything is fine.
These are only partially buried. I like to come back and take a look at the sites because, you know, these are my babies, this is the invention(s) we have been working on for years, and Johnny, bring them in a little closer (camera moves).
I was back up here two weeks ago with another potential Sales Rep, Adam Mowery of Mowery Environmental out of Chester County and (removes lid and drops it, laughs) and just wanted to show you that year round, they (the MRUs) will continue to pull, in this case iron and aluminum. Now these are primarily abiotic remediation pathways, or, microbes don’t have anything to do with the removal of this Iron and Aluminum.
(On screen clarification): There are no direct metabolic pathways between iron and aluminum involved in these (2) 2017 Mk307-M’s.
The pH in the water is about a six and a half or so which is certainly high enough for the standard abiotic kinetics of aluminum and iron oxidation.
(Continued Clarification on the indirect relationships of biotic and abiotic components in a self organizing wetland bioreactor): The biofilm, which produces a sticky colloid called (EPS, or the film part), does work to capture metal suspended solids, and indirectly benefits suspended solids capture. Biofilm is generally negatively charges unaer aerobic conditions so may be contributing ionic attraction or bonding; beneficial but still indirect.
Key Words: Metal Removal Unit, MRU, EcoIslands, freezing, cold weather operations, bioremediation, iron, aluminum, manganese
End transcription at 2:38 minutes… please keep watching for Eagle Site and more on MRU winter operations! Thanks All, Colin.
