Integrated Separation Solutions (ISS) LLC has earned a loyal customer base with its expert designs, quality products and a dedication to customer service, Executive Vice President of Strategy and Technology Terry Dillman says. “All our customers are looking for [us to provide] the best integrated solutions for their water problem,” he says.
Based in Madison, Wis., the firm is an engineered-to-order manufacturing company that develops customized water treatment equipment and industrial process separation systems.
“Most everything we manufacture [here] is currently based on five technology platforms: pressure filtration, ion exchange, membranes, degasification and industrial chromatography,” Dillman says.
ISS’ work can be grouped into three sectors. The first consists of the purification of water for industry. “We serve 20 industries,” he says, noting that the company’s markets include power, pulp and paper, petrochemical, food, semiconductors and can manufacturing.
The power industry is its biggest market. Fossil fuel and nuclear power plants use purified water to feed their boilers to produce high-pressure steam. “Our second business is processed liquids, using the same platforms,” he says. This business includes solutions for the sweetener industry – producers of corn sugars, cane sugar and artificial sweeteners. Clients are the giants of the industry – Tate & Lyle, CPI, Cargill and ADM.
Its third business is wastewater treatment. “We have a current focus on agricultural wastewater,” Dillman says, “and we have finished a development that allows us to make dischargeable clean water from dairy farm manure.”
He notes that the state of Wisconsin validated this treatment process in January by issuing a permit for discharging the treated wastewater from a concentrated animal feeding operation farm into a stream. “This is the first dairy farm permitted to discharge effluent from a manure treatment system in the United States. It’s as clear as any water you’ve ever seen,” he says.
In addition, the company has grown to serve companies worldwide. “[In] the past few years, we’ve sold into Singapore, Turkey, Hungry, Poland, France, England, Canada, Mexico, Colombia [and] China,” he says. “Most of our water treatment is [in] North America, with some exceptions.”
Rewarding Work
A longtime veteran of the industry, Dillman previously served as the vice president of research and development at Alcoa Separations. He later joined ISS, which was formed from the demise of another company. “ISS bought the assets and [hired] most of the people; I joined in 2003,” he says.
He notes that he has enjoyed his time in this business, thanks to the contributions it enables him to make. “The industry allows everyone to be involved in developing and providing products [that are] essential,” he says. “You get to be involved with important things.”
For instance, the company is at work on water treatment equipment for the expansion of a Georgia Power plant.
“Georgia has a shortage of water,” Dillman says. “We came up with a design that has far greater water recovery than any other competitor came up with. The system will provide high purity water for three combined cycle generating units.” In addition, the company recently sent equipment to a new beverage can manufacturing operation in Nigeria.
“[It will] treat the water that will rinse the cans after they’re punched out of the aluminum rolls,” he says.
He is also proud of ISS’ recent technological developments. For instance, while the company is not ISO 9001 certified, it has adopted ISO as its management method.
In addition, in its processed liquids business, “We’ve had continual development in our chromatographic methods that have brought us sizable sales that we’re proud of,” he continues.
Diverse Backgrounds
Dillman notes that the company’s longevity has been due to its team of people, who have worked together for many different companies over the years. For instance, “Many of us worked together 20 years ago for a company called Illinois Water Treatment Co.,” he says.
Dillman explains the firm was a well-known manufacturer of ion exchange equipment that changed owners repeatedly. “A lot of the people here at ISS originated there and kind of regrouped here,” he says.
Its team has 700 years of collective experience, which helps it serve multiple industries, Dillman says. He compares the diversity of the backgrounds to the kitchen of a Chinese restaurant.
“If you go back in the kitchen, they only have a couple dozen things back there, [but] they mix it together with skill,” he says. “They end up with different products, and people like the different products.”
With the diverse backgrounds of ISS’ staff, the company can use its experience to provide customized services and products, Dillman says. “[We] apply the technology and different products in many variations,” he says. “That allows us to serve a lot of industries.”
