6 | Factor Engineering “It’s like a four star hotel for bacteria,” he remarks. “If they do what we want, life is pretty darn good for them.” The whole system is also very clean and energy efficient, according to Rex. “It’s entirely a biological system. We don’t use any chemicals. The only chemicals that go in are for the reactor to balance alkalinity and acidity. The bugs also convert all their food into about eighty per cent carbon dioxide and nitrogen, which goes into the atmosphere, while the remainder is a solid biomass that can be easily recycled.” “The whole system is also all automated,” he adds. “We don’t have to have a man standing there opening valves and pressing buttons. We further provide remote telemetry, to monitor all the systems we’ve installed.” “For example, we had a call from a customer in New Zealand who’s been cleaning his tanks and had a bit of unusual activity from farming – which is actually very normal but he wanted to know what was happening. We were able to look at how the system was controlled and said it was normal and healthy and to just keep doing what they were doing.” AWARD-WINNING ENGINEERING In 2013, Factor UTB’s proclivity for innovation earned the company some attention from the local industry. At the South Australian Engineering Excellence Awards, they won the Environment category due to their work on the Waste Water Treatment Plant for Matua Marlborough Winery. According to Rex, the award-winning plant was built according to a two-stage design based on a highly controlled Sequencing Batch Reactor. It was completed in 22 weeks from the initial purchase. “The client planned to double the size of their winery, but could only get a council approval with the condition they got their waste water management under control,” explains Rex. “They came to us telling what
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