“Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink.” That old saying refers to a situation where lots of resources are around us but none of them are useable. In the case of water itself, this saying reminds us that water is vital to life. Today we’ll learn about a Kansas company which specializes in cutting-edge technologies for waste water treatment. This company’s systems are being used across the nation and around the globe.

Todd Steinbach is co-owner and CEO of Aero-Mod Inc., the company which is designing and providing such water treatment systems. The company began as a project of K-State civil engineering professor Larry Schmid. In 1981, Professor Schmid and some partners founded a company to work on treatment systems for waste water. They designed and installed small treatment plants and worked on housing developments as well.

The company grew and changed through the years. After Larry Schmid, John McNellis served as president of the company. He worked with a contact in Algeria to build the business overseas. Todd Steinbach joined the business in 1994. He and partner Rob Mahan own the company today.

Aero-Mod specializes in cutting-edge waste water treatment systems. “There is oxygen demand when bacteria attack waste,” Todd said. “We are essentially treating water so that oxygen isn’t consumed.” This works kind of like an aerator in a household aquarium.

“We use naturally-occurring bacteria to make the water safe for consumption,” Todd said. These systems are built to remove nitrogen cost-effectively and produce superior effluent quality.

“We’re treating this waste water and putting it back into the rivers so that it is useable again,” Todd said. “Think of the health benefits of people having clean, unpolluted drinking water world-wide.”

Aero-Mod specializes in small- to mid-size municipal type systems. Many smaller towns used lagoon water treatment systems for years, but now are needing to upgrade. Aero-Mod systems provide that opportunity in a cost-effective way.

Aero-Mod has developed and installed municipal systems from California to Vermont, and as far away as Algeria, Costa Rica, and Chile. The company’s corporate clients include Ford Motors, General Motors, Kraft Foods, Frito-Lay, Coca-Cola, Intel Corporation, and more.

The company’s headquarters is located on the east side of Manhattan, Kansas. Aero-Mod staff design, build and market the equipment at the Aero-Mod facility.

“We have a great group of employees here,” Todd said. The company has grown to 45 employees.

“We need more engineers,” Todd said. “There are great opportunities in civil engineering. It is a very broad field. You can get into things such as water, like we’re doing here, or other environmental issues, structural design such as buildings, you can get into transportation, you can get into geotechnical things, construction materials, there’s lots of opportunities.”

Todd, a Wisconsin native, studied civil engineering at Iowa State before coming to Aero-Mod. His professor at Iowa State was a friend of Larry Schmid’s and helped make the connection with Todd and the company. “We knew nothing about Kansas,” Todd said.

Todd’s business partner Rob Mahan previously served as a consulting engineer himself. Rob comes from the rural community of Rossville, population 1,151 people. Now, that’s rural.

“For the consulting engineer (on these water projects), we can be an extension of their office,” Todd said. Such support has made a big difference as projects are bid, built, installed and maintained.

“We now offer a two-day school for water system operators,” Todd said. “Our customers know we’re there to support them.”

Demand is strong for high-quality, efficient waste water treatment systems across the nation. “We had a record year,” Todd said.

For more information about the company, see www.aeromod.com.

“Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink.” That old saying reminds us that we all need water but the water is no good to us if it isn’t clean and safe. We commend Todd Steinbach, Rob Mahan, John McNellis, Larry Schmid, and all those involved with Aero-Mod for making a difference by providing systems for treating water for our use. I wish those systems were in use everywhere.

March 17 – 23 is noted as National Poison Prevention Week. It is the perfect time to raise awareness among families to reduce unintentional poisonings, and promote poison prevention in our corner of the world. When our kids and grandkids were quite young I probably paid more attention to this important topic. It is interesting to note though, that people of all ages are in danger of poisonings.

A few years ago an Extension Agent in a neighboring county shared the educational program titled, “Dangerous look-a-likes.” That information has stuck in my mind, so I will share a few of the things I remember.

• Many household cleaners are the color of Kool-aid or sports drinks. Some even smell like citrus, so it could be very dangerous to have these cleaners left in a space that is accessible by young children. Another important rule here is to make sure you leave cleaners in their original container. If you do put them in another spray bottle, make sure it is clearly marked.
• Look inside your medicine cabinet. Many pills look so much like red hots or other small candies. Children do not know the difference so make sure medicines and supplements are kept far out of reach of young children. Do not refer to medicine or vitamins as candy and do not involve children as helpers with your medication.
• If a person of any age ingests something that is poisonous contact the Poison Control Center at this number (1-800-222-1222) The phone number is manned 24 hours a day.

More than 2 million poisonings are reported each year to the 57 poison control centers across the country. More than 90 percent of these poisonings occur in the home. The majority of non-fatal poisonings occur in children younger than six years old. If a product label says, “Keep out of reach of children” there is a reason. Keep those dangerous things up high and in a locked cabinet. Almost half of poison exposures for children under the age of 5 are caused by medicine. Children have faster metabolisms than adults so anything they ingest will be absorbed into the bloodstream very quicly.

Take a few minutes and do a visual check around your house to make sure you have any poisons out of reach of young children.

Donna Krug is the Family and Consumer Science Agent and District Director for the Cottonwood Extension District. You may reach her at: (620)793-1910 or [email protected]