ADVERTISEMENT
Mapal’s Floating Fine Bubble Aeration Technology
Mapal’s FFBA at a facility owned by the Merom Galil Regional Council, Upper Galilee, Israel.
S
econdary wastewater treatment requires providing oxygen to bacteria in wastewater so that they remove the dissolved contamination from it. Providing this oxygen to the bacteria is called aeration. In general, there are two types of aeration: mechanical surface aeration, which uses a mechanical impeller to spray water into the air and tends to be inefficient and to suffer from maintenance and health and safety issues, and fine bubble aeration, which involves releasing tiny bubbles from diffusers fixed to the bottom of a reactor. The Israeli company Mapal Green Energy, based in Kibbutz Yagur, has come up with a new take on the latter method. Its floating fine bubble aeration (FFBA) system uses an easily removed floating device to inject wastewater with fine bubbles from above through diffusers that are suspended from the water surface. This system is significantly more efficient than surface mechanical aeration and is easier to maintain than a floor-fixed system. In this interview, Mapal’s cofounder and chief executive officer (CEO), Zeev Fisher, tells Municipal Water Leader about the benefits of FFBA and Mapal’s work around the world.
Zeev Fisher: I’m a mechanical engineer. I grew up in Israel and graduated from Ben Gurion University in Beersheba.
30 | MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER
Municipal Water Leader: Please tell us about Mapal as a company. Zeev Fisher: We’re a small company with 10 employees, based in Kibbutz Yagur in northern Israel. We are not a big engineering, procurement, and construction contractor that does everything; we are a niche company with a specialty in aeration technology for municipal and industrial biological wastewater treatment. We have developed a technology that we call FFBA. Municipal Water Leader: Is the company owned by the kibbutz? Zeev Fisher: No; I founded the company and the raised money from private investors in the United Kingdom, who now own the company. The kibbutz is just where our
PHOTO COURTESY OF MAPAL.
Municipal Water Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.
All my experience is in the infrastructure business, including water, wastewater, and desalination projects. About 10 years ago, I identified an interesting technology which was still at an early stage. Because of my experience, I realized its potential for the wastewater treatment process, and I decided to found Mapal, which I did with a partner who is no longer active in the company; to raise money; and to slowly penetrate the global market.
