Decontaminating the San Antonio MDWCA

AdEdge’s treatment technology has been installed in a number of unique applications and locations. In February 2012, AdEdge was contacted to help remove arsenic and manganese from the drinking water supply of a rural community in New Mexico.

The San Antonio Mutual Domestic Water Consumers Association (MDWCA) is one of approximately 200 such organizations around the state of New Mexico. Elevated arsenic and manganese levels in this system, which serves 855 residents and handles 80,000 gallons per day, led operators to contact AdEdge for a treatment solution. Before AdEdge stepped in, the MDWCA was experiencing an arsenic level of 0.014 mg/L and a manganese level of 1.10 mg/L—well above the EPA’s maximum contaminant levels of 0.010 mg/L and 0.05 mg/L, respectively.

New Mexico is no stranger to water quality concerns. The Sanitary Projects Act was passed in the state in 1947 as a response to a public health crisis. Dangerous water practices were occurring, primarily in rural areas, with citizens obtaining drinking water from sources that were often unsanitary, such as ditches and shallow wells.

In an effort to deliver safe drinking water to these communities, the Sanitary Projects Act authorized and encouraged the creation of MDWCAs, which have the authority to construct and operate water facilities around the state.

At the San Antonio facility, AdEdge installed a 150 gallons-per-minute APU26 skid-mounted system consisting of three, 42-in. diameter vessels with a multiple media filter. The treatment system includes chlorine and ferric chloride chemical feed modules, with ADGS+ coagulation/filtration media with an anthracite cap to remove the contaminants. The media is all ANSI/NSF 61-certified by the Water Quality Association. AdEdge’s H2Zero Backwash Recycle system then treats and manages the contaminated backwash water.

The San Antonio system was started up in June 2012 and has successfully reduced the arsenic and manganese levels well below the EPA’s maximum contaminant levels.

Contact AdEdge and let us design a customized treatment solution to keep your community’s drinking water supply safe and clean.