XOGEN CEO ANGELLA HUGHES and a model of the high-tech wastewater treatment system in the Orangeville lab. Dufferin County, like practically every other community in Canada, has seen its manufacturing base hit hard by volatile markets and offshore competition.

Yet, as traditional factories disappear, dynamic new green enterprises, like Xogen Technologies Inc., are sprouting up to fill the void.

At Monday's town council meeting, council agreed in principle for Xogen to install a pilot plant at the Orangeville water pollution control plant to test its globallypatented wastewater treatment technology.

At its six-employee, 3,200-square-foot Orangeville, Xogen has developed a process that treats wastewater using an electrolytic process that not only eliminates biosolids but also requires a much smaller facilities footprint-(the amount of required floor space)-than conventional treatment approaches, thereby lowering potential capital costs.

As well, the process produces a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen gas that can be used to generate energy through combustion or a fuel cell energy that can be sold back to the grid or re-used to help further reduce costs.

The pilot project at the Orangeville plant will not impede the facility's dayto day operations since it will only be processing about five gallons of wastewater a day and take up just 750 square feet of floor space. As well, the treated water will flow into the back into that of the plant.

"We believe our patented technology has the potential to revolutionize the wastewater treatment process," says Angella Hughes, CEO of Xogen. "We're excited at the prospect of moving from the lab, where batch results on the bench have been tremendous, to a real world scenario where we can collect data from a continuous flow model."

Having received the Town of Orangeville's agreement in principle to act as host for the pilot plant, Xogen will now be submitting a proposal for up to one-third funding for the pilot plant from Sustainable Technology Development Canada a non-profit corporation created by the Government of Canada to finance and support the late-stage development and pre-commercial demonstration of clean technologies.

Xogen will submit its proposal to SDTC by January 21. SDTC is expected to announce the results of its latest funding round in early July 2009. Design and construction of the pilot project is expected to be completed and fully operational in early 2010.

Once operational, the Xogen pilot plant will divert a small portion of raw sewage through its reactor on a continuous flow basis in order to demonstrate its viability for municipal wastewater treatment. An objective third party will evaluate the results.

With data obtained from the pilot, Xogen will be able to refine the technology for commercial use in both Canadian and international markets. The pilot plant is expected to run until 2011.

By partnering with Xogen, the Town of Orangeville joins with other members of a consortium that includes the University of Toronto, Newalta and other specialized technology companies contributing to the project. Xogen has a collaborative research agreement with the University of Toronto which has received financial support from the federal and provincial governments, including from the Ontario Centres of Excellence and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Ms. Hughes feels the various levels of government are warming to the economic, as well as environmental, potential of green industries and companies such as Xogen. Such companies, however, will require a highlyskilled labour force to succeed.

Nevertheless, she is confident that Xogen can find the people it needs right here in Orangeville. "All my technicians are local people," Ms. Hughes points out. "There are a lot of skilled people commuting to the GTA every day who would like to live and work here."

While it is excited about the pilot project, Xogen is, by no means, restricted to the town. Its patented technology has attracted international interest with inquiries coming from Washington D.C. and Seattle in the U.S., to as far away as Malaysia.

"We've been getting inquiries from places where conventional (wastewater treatment) solutions are no longer addressing the problem," says Ms. Hughes.

"In these tough economic times it's great to see a local company investing in research and development and creating jobs," said Orangeville Mayor Rob Adams. "The fact that Xogen is in the forefront of new green technologies is even more exciting. This is the way of the future: looking for new ways to deal with environmental challenges."