The average price of unleaded gasoline topped $3 this spring and some sources indicate it’s still on the rise! So why are you reading about gasoline prices in Tonka Talk? Everyone knows gasoline and water don’t mix, right?

Ethanol Relies on Large Quantities of High Quality Water

With gas prices on the rise, the ethanol market has burst onto the scene and grabbed headlines as the savior alternative fuel. Ethanol is certainly a viable renewable alternative fuel source, but what’s not obvious is the amount of high quality water required to process corn into ethanol - approximately 6 gallons of water to produce 1 gallon of ethanol. Also interesting is that many existing and proposed ethanol plants are located in relatively remote areas with poor raw water quality and limited wastewater disposal options. These are certainly two major challenges when the fi nished product, ethanol, relies on large quantities of high quality water.

Tonka Treatment Reduces Water Needs

Over the past year, Tonka has teamed with U.S. Water Services on several projects to treat poor quality waters to the standards required by ethanol production facilities using a treatment process incorporating clarifi cation, fi ltration, and membrane treatment In addition, these facilities are designed to recycle nearly all of the spent process water (from backwashing, cooling towers, and boilers) so it can be re-treated and re-used in the ethanol production process. This unique water treatment concept not only greatly reduces the amount of water drawn from the source water (aquifer or river), but it also greatly reduces the amount of wastewater generated. Tonka’s Simul- Wash™ backwash system has also been incorporated into each of these plants, reducing backwash waste consumption by over 50%.

Minimizing Environmental Impact

 Producing high quality water while also minimizing wastewater will be critical as ethanol consumption continues to grow in the coming years. Tonka is proud to be involved in providing cutt ing-edge technology, which not only meets the challenging water demands associated with ethanol production, but also minimizes the impact on the environment.