FAST^® and Our Environment

Water is the most precious resource on the planet. The water from this abundant environment satisfies our domestic needs, produces our commercial and industrial products, cools our power plants, irrigates our farmland, assimilates our wastes, conveys water-born transportation, provides recreational experiences and enhances the urban scene.

The basic source of water is rainfall, which collects in rivers and lakes, under the ground, and in artificial reservoirs. Water from under the ground is called groundwater and is tapped by means of wells. Water that collects in rivers, lakes, or reservoirs is called surface water. These water resources can become polluted in many ways. Water from rivers and lakes can be polluted by storm water runoff, pesticide runoff, and industrial waste. Groundwater can be contaminated by disease-producing microbes, leachate from landfills and septic systems, careless disposal of hazardous household products, agricultural chemicals, and leaking underground storage tanks. Old plumbing in buildings and water systems have also been linked to lead pollution in drinking water.

Pollution is defined as the contamination of the environment as a result of human activities. For decades, many groups dedicated to the conservation and preservation of our natural resources have fought pollution by building global awareness of the importance of the preservation of our precious resources. Their strategies have included various efforts, including preventing pollutants from flowing into our lakes and rivers from urban streets and rural lands, reducing toxic materials entering the regional wastewater system, educating regional citizens about their important role and continually improving the performance of wastewater treatment facilities.

Sewage Treatment Plays a Big Role

The biochemical processes that take place in large bodies of water have also been relied on to neutralize sewage in land-based treatment facilities and on-site treatment systems. The proven FAST^® (Fixed Activated Sludge Treatment) technology utilizes a unique aerobic process, in which microorganisms normally found in sewage grow on fixed media in an oxygen-rich environment and use incoming sewage as food. The process produces a clear, odorless effluent that is safe for the environment and ready for dispersal through various means.

Many treatment processes have been developed over the years, but many have fallen short due to the tightened restrictions placed on the levels of treatment required by the government and state and local health officials. The FAST^® process has been exceeding required treatment levels since its inception in the 1970s. This advanced treatment technology is the result of many years of research and continuous improvement through applications of all types.

Today, the FAST^® Treatment Process has been developed into an extensive line of FAST^® products that successfully treat everything from simple household wastewater to complex, high-strength process wastewater. Because of its consistently proven treatment levels, Smith & Loveless Inc. and Bio-Microbics have received many certifications (see below) and achieved combined installations of more than 7,000 FAST^® units worldwide.

With the FAST process, Smith & Loveless and Bio-Microbics will continue to strive for the protection of our world’s most precious resource: water.

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