WHEATON, IL - In-Pipe Technology® ("In-Pipe"), which provides advanced biological wastewater treatment services, announced that it has secured a new investment of $1 million. The investment round was led by the Asia West Environment Fund: a strategic venture capital fund that invests in global, proprietary and environmentally beneficial technologies and services. Previous and new individual investors also participated in the round.

Based on the success of its treatment at more than a dozen locations throughout the U.S., In-Pipe has demonstrated that its patented and proprietary technologies dramatically reduce the costs associated with municipal and industrial wastewater treatment.

U.S. municipalities treat more than 32 billion gallons of wastewater daily, incurring $20 billion annually in operating costs and an estimated $25 billion annually in capital expenditures. Nevertheless, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported that the amount of money required over the next 20 years may exceed planned budgetary allocations by as much as $500 billion. "The conditions of our nation's sewers and wastewater treatment plants are stressing State and local budget resources, which may already be in trouble," states Dan Williamson, the company's CEO. "To add to the budgetary challenges, many of our nation's cities have sewer infrastructure and wastewater treatment facilities that are more than fifty years old. Others date to the original funding of the Clean Water Act in 1972."

Historically, advances in wastewater treatment methods have been constrained by a lack of funding, public awareness, or new technologies. Wastewater from homes and businesses is transported via sewers to treatment plants where it is processed and treated using a combination of biological, mechanical, and chemical processes. After treatment, clean water is discharged into various receiving waterways and biosolids are removed and hauled to other locations (e.g. landfills) or, if possible, reused (e.g processed into fertilizer).

"A wastewater treatment plant has a difficult job. Depending on the size of the community, millions of gallons of untreated wastewater arrive at the treatment plant daily. Rainfall and discrete inputs can make the flow highly variable, and the plant has limited time and capacity to respond, purify and disinfect the wastewater before releasing the effluent into the environment," states Mr. Williamson.

In-Pipe's patented technology represents a fundamental shift in the economics and methods of treatment. Rather than waiting until wastewaster arrives at the treatment plant, In-Pipe begins the process of treating the wastewater in the far reaches of the sewer system, closer to the source. In-Pipe uses the natural retention time in the miles of sewer piping to treat the waste en-route to the plant. This pre-treatment modifies the biofilm in the collection system and yields a number of major benefits. It helps prevent hydrogen sulfide production and consequent sewer pipe corrosion. It reduces odors and grease blockages in the pipes and pumping stations. It improves the performance and efficiency of the treatment plant and helps the plant meet compliance levels. Perhaps most importantly, by initiating microbial activity upstream, In-Pipe reduces the quantity of organic sludge that is produced and that must be disposed of in landfills, or by other methods. Each of these benefits results in significant budget savings for the municipal sewer and wastewater treatment customer.

"We're excited about our strategic investment in In-Pipe," states Sanford Selman, Managing Director of Asia West LLC, Fund Manager of the Asia West Environment Fund. "In-Pipe's approach is, by far, the most cost effective solution I've ever seen for reducing the load on over-stressed wastewater plants while improving the performance and reducing operational costs of the entire system. The technology has huge implications for the developing world where extension of sewer connections is a major developmental objective, although capital to build and expand wastewater plants is very limited." Mr. Selman has joined In-Pipe's Board of Directors.

In-Pipe is currently operating in more than a dozen locations throughout the U.S. and will be adding several new locations in the first quarter of 2004. The company plans to use the investment proceeds to fund expansion and acquisition of key accounts. Laurence Hayward of Spire Capital Group acted as advisor to In-Pipe on the fundraising.

About In-Pipe Technology®
In-Pipe provides advanced biological wastewater treatment services. In-Pipe's patented and proprietary technologies combine extensive knowledge and experience in microbiology, bio-film engineering, sewer dynamics, and wastewater treatment design and operation. In-Pipe naturally converts the passive sewer collection system into an active and efficient pretreatment process. 

About Asia West Environment Fund
The Asia West Environment Fund is a strategic venture capital fund that seeks to achieve an attractive financial, environmental and social return for its investors by linking Western technology and expertise with markets in China and other large, developing countries. To learn more about the Asia West Environment Fund visit www.asiawestfunds.com.

About Spire Capital Group
Spire Capital Group is a private investment bank dedicated to creating value through the commercialization of world changing technologies in sectors including biotechnology, energy, security and information technology.