Blue Water Technologies Inc., a Hayden-based developer of waste-water treatment technologies, says a Louisiana-based engineering and construction giant has bought a sizable stake in the company. The two concerns now are collaborating on projects and helping each other tap into new markets.


Earlier this month, The Shaw Group Inc., of Baton Rouge, La., made a mid-seven-figure equity investment in Blue Water, and now owns nearly 20 percent of the company, says Blue Water President Tom Daugherty. This year will be Blue Waters first full year of sales, so while the agreement is expected to result in additional sales of systems, the sales that will result this year cant be compared with revenues from last year, he says.


In 2008, well have revenues stacked up to look at, and this will really accelerate us, Daugherty says. We will be able to build pilot units, enter additional markets, and have more regional people.


Blue Water has developed a technology that removes phosphorus from waste water, and has been selling that technology in the municipal, industrial, and private development markets. It also sells similar technologies for waste-water reclamation systems, in which treated waste water is re-used for irrigation and other purposes.


The Shaw Group provides engineering, construction, technology, fabrication, environmental, and industrial services to government and private clients in the energy, chemical, environmental, infrastructure, and emergency-response markets, its Web site says. It has nearly $5 billion in annual revenues and employs roughly 21,000 people worldwide.


The two companies have agreed to collaborate on engineering, design, and construction projects, and will offer entire plant retrofits to the municipal and industrial waste-water treatment markets jointly, Daugherty says.


One project they already are working on together involves upgrading a plant in Massachusetts that processes 8 million gallons of waste-water per day, he says. Part of the requirement for the project was that the vendor offer a performance guarantee and bonding for three years, which Shaw will provide. While Blue Water could have handled the project on its own, it isnt capable of doing several such projects simultaneously.


Demand is significant, and we cant keep up with it, Daugherty says. With too many projects, its a significant capital cost just to pay bonding fees, and Shaw brings that to the stage.


Blue Water also hopes to apply to its projects technologies Shaw is developing, he says. For instance, Shaw is developing whats called an aerobic digester that will convert bio-solids produced as a result of the waste-water treatment process into methane gas that becomes a potential power source, he says.


In August, Shaw plans to deliver to Blue Water a product it has developed called a membrane bioreactor, which grows bacteria for the bioconversion of organic waste, he says. Blue Water plans to test that product in conjunction with the technologies it currently offers.


Currently, Blue Water employs 20 people in Hayden and two people in Conroe, Texas, where late last year it bought Applied Process Technology Inc., which makes filtration equipment for the waste-water treatment industry, he says. The privately held, four-year-old company is looking to hire three employees in Hayden and has one open position in Texas. Shaw employees also are expected to work on Blue Water projects, and the companys regional sales representatives are marketing Blue Water technologies, he says.


Contact Emily Brandler at (509) 344-1265 or via e-mail at emilyb@spokanejournal.com.