INNOVATION November-December 2021

F E A T U R E

B QE Water is a BC-based engineering company that The company has won multiple awards, including the 2021 Environmental Award from Engineers and Geoscientists BC for its Kemess Selen-IX Plant, an example of how engineering excellence can contribute towards environmental protection. Located in a remote and mountainous mining site in northwest BC, the Kemess Selen-IX Plant is the first full-scale water treatment plant to utilize a new physiochemical technology to remove excess selenium from mine water. Selenium is a micronutrient essential to all life forms in trace amounts. It naturally occurs in the earth’s crust and is transferred into waterways through the weathering of plant life, soils, and bedrocks. However, at higher concentrations, selenium becomes toxic. specializes in the management of mine wastewater and metallurgical bleed streams.

negative impact on the environment by creating organo-selenium, which is more toxic than selenate. BQE Water’s innovation is to employ a physicochemical method of treatment to address the environmental issues that arise when selenium is released into water in large quantities by mining. The Kemess Selen-IX Plant, created for Centerra Gold, removes selenium to less than two parts per billion to comply with water quality regulations. It also avoids the toxicity risks linked with biological treatment. And from a waste management perspective, it produces just two things: clean water and a stable, non-toxic by-product that can be easily removed and has the potential to be reused in steel production. “This is game-changing technology,” said Baker, who served as lead process engineer for the Kemess Selen-IX Plant. “There are a lot of hurdles with biological This proof of concept behind the Kemess plant is a powerful tool in the search for safer ways to support mining activities that create the raw materials society depends on. BQE Water estimates there are 12 BC mines with selenium issues, and 1,000 more mines in the US. BQE Water is fielding lots of inquiries and already working with three new projects to build plants in Virginia and Arizona. Before developing this new technology, the team at BQE Water was involved in many projects around the world to remove heavy metals from water. “That’s what we do to make clean water,” said Baker. “But we’re a pretty small company. We had to work in a really cohesive way with the whole company pulling in the same methods. Using a physiochemical system is like a light switch—you turn it on and it’s ready to go.”

“The level that you need is quickly found in regular diets,” said Brent Baker, P.Eng., Director of Engineering at BQE Water. “It can become a contaminant pretty quickly.” Elevated selenium levels have been linked to long-term chronic effects like physical deformities and genetic mutations when selenium bioaccumulation starts in invertebrates and fish and moves up the food chain. These concerns have led regulators to set limits on selenium discharge levels from 1 to 10 parts per billion. Prior to the installation of the Kemess Selen-IX Plant, the main treatment for the selenate form of selenium was biological reduction, which was first created in the late 2000s for coal-fired plants in the US and adopted by mining due to a lack of other options. This was done despite concerns that while biological treatment reduces total selenium concentration, it can at the same time increase the

Travel insurance that’s ready to go.

With MEDOC® you can enjoy an unlimited number of trips 1 during the policy year, including coverage for COVID-19 related medical costs during your trip for up to $5 million.

Contact Johnson today. 1.855.473.8029 or visit Johnson.ca/MEDOC

Johnson Insurance is a tradename of Johnson Inc. ("JI"), a licensed insurance intermediary, and operates as Johnson Insurance Services in British Columbia and Johnson Inc. in Manitoba. MEDOC® is a Registered Trademark of JI. MEDOC® Travel Insurance is underwritten by Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Company of Canada ("RSA") and administered by JI. Valid provincial or territorial health plan coverage required. Travel Assistance provided by Global Excel Management Inc. JI and RSA share common ownership. 1 Maximum duration of 17 or 35 consecutive days applies to each trip outside of Canada, depending on your plan selection.

3 2

N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 1

I N N O V A T I O N