EDI – 40 Years of Innovative, Client-Focused Solutions

Columbia, Mo. – Environmental Dynamics International (EDI) celebrates forty years of service to the water and wastewater industry, providing innovative and efficient engineered solutions for aerated treatment systems. EDI has built its reputation as a partner committed to meeting the unique aeration and biological treatment needs of its clients. By providing innovative aeration equipment with engineering expertise, EDI helps municipal, private and industrial clients find the most cost-effective waste treatment solutions. EDI’s easy-to-maintain designs consider treatment objectives, construction costs, and energy consumption, to develop treatment systems with the lowest life cycle costs. EDI offers total solutions for many aeration applications, providing engineering design, equipment, installation, and ongoing maintenance.

Founded in 1975 by Charles Tharp—known as Chuck to his associates—EDI has grown from a small company with a few employees and annual sales of $27,000, to a multinational company with more than 105 employees and sales of over $27 million. With offices in the US, Singapore, France, Germany, China, India and the United Kingdom (UK), and manufacturing facilities in the US, China, UK, and India, EDI is truly a global partner for bringing innovative aeration solutions to the world market.

Throughout its growth, EDI has remained true to Tharp’s guiding principle: Focus on the core competency of aeration and help make life easier for customers by providing reliable, economical, efficient, and flexible solutions for their most challenging aeration needs.

EDI’s very first innovation, the REEF™ System, demonstrates this understanding. The REEF System is a high efficiency, fine bubble lagoon aeration system, introduced in 1977 to address a serious need in the industry. In the 1970s, aeration for lagoon treatment systems consisted of inefficient mechanical aerators or perforated tubing, which was prone to clogging, and cleaning required wading into the lagoon and/or gas cleaning; an unwelcome, labor intensive task.

The REEF System provided a retrievable system for lagoons. High efficiency, fine pore diffuser units could be pulled to the surface, maintained and returned to service quickly and easily. EDI changed the operation of aerated lagoons, by offering reliable and easily maintained systems, paving the way for fine bubble aeration systems within lagoons, and advanced lagoon aeration and biological treatment processes.

Other innovations followed for concrete aeration basins and lagoon systems. EDI’s patented Spectrum™ saddle mount for diffusers provides a robust connection for attaching tubular diffuser systems to the piping. These Spectrum saddles expand the industry’s options for tube systems, previously limited to 50 mm (2 inches) diameter maximum and 0.6 m (2 feet) long, to allow use of a full range of tube diffusers, up to 120 mm (4.7 inches) diameter and 1.8 m (70.9 inches) long. These larger diffusers have:

• Reduced system capital and installation costs
• Improved the efficiency and reduced operating pressures for lower operating costs, and
• Facilitated use of fine bubble diffusion into a wider variety of processes and applications.

No longer is the size or performance of the diffuser limited by a ¾” threaded connection to the piping system.

EDI continues to develop innovations for superior performance. Other advances include:

• Mini Panels™, which allow for more density of diffuser area in the tank, increasing the potential for energy efficiency
• StreamLine® diffuser panel aeration systems, which allow you to choose your piping, choose your membrane, and choose your perforation for custom fit performance in high density concrete basin applications for maximum efficiency
• Matrix™ Plus diffuser membranes, PTFE-impregnated for severe service applications, such as elevated temperatures or abrasive conditions

Comprehensive Versatility
EDI’s product line now encompasses all types of aeration diffuser systems, to meet any treatment requirement or system configuration. Whatever the client’s need—coarse bubble, fine bubble, disc, tube, panel and varying materials of construction—EDI has a worry-free system that will deliver the required aeration efficiency.

The engineers at EDI have also developed their own line of conventional aeration and lagoon-based advanced waste treatment systems, for both new installations and lagoon upgrades. EDI Lagoon Solutions include Internal Clarifier (IC) or External Clarifier (EC) solutions to convert a facultative or aerated lagoon into an activated sludge (AS) process. This conversion or new installation can achieve all the treatment benefits of an AS process with the economy of earthen basins.

For low maintenance and advanced levels of treatment in lagoons, the patented IDEAL™ System offers intermittent discharge extended aeration lagoons with longer SRTs, higher mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) and minimal ongoing maintenance requirements. IDEAL systems also offer nitrogen removal, with ease of operation and low life cycle costs.

All EDI Lagoon Solutions provide stable, low-maintenance operation with energy efficient fine bubble diffuser components for exceptionally low life cycle costs.

As Chuck Tharp stated, the real value is the expertise EDI brings to aeration and biological treatment. “If engineers consult with us during the design process, we typically save their clients 20% or more in energy costs at a minimum capital cost. Just by increasing the number of diffusers, the air flux rate reduces, oxygen transfer increases, and pressure drop across the diffuser system reduces. This one design modification can deliver their aeration needs at a greatly reduced energy requirement. Engineers can even specify a smaller blower, saving substantial capital cost as well. Using the major energy savings to purchase the diffusers essentially makes the diffusers free, and delivers an impressive return on investment!”

EDI’s commitment to their customer does not stop with the installation and start-up. They offer Aeration Works™, Diffuser Express™ and Aftermarket/Infrastructure (AIM) Service and/or maintenance packages to take the stress, worry, and labor time out of maintaining the aeration system. EDI expertise can keep the aeration process functioning at peak efficiency, saving substantial money and assuring stable treatment.

Looking to the future, Mr. Tharp sees many changes in the industry; but for EDI, the commitment will remain the same: Provide quality and innovative solutions meeting customer needs. The guiding principle to undergird EDI activities moving forward will continue to be EDI’s focus on the core competency of aeration and biological treatment to provide reliable, economical, efficient, and flexible solutions for their customers’ most challenging aeration needs. EDI looks forward to the next 40 years of providing “aeration for life.”