AdEdge AD26 System Treats High Iron & Manganese Levels in Georgia Community

In June 2009, the Stewart County Water Company selected and began working with AdEdge Technologies to assist with the design and implementation of an Iron and Manganese treatment system to serve the water supply for Stewart County in Louvale, Georgia. The site has one existing groundwater supply well that provides drinking water for approximately 225 connections with high levels of Manganese (Mn) and Iron (Fe) that exceed the secondary drinking water standard Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCL) and resulted in poor water quality being served to the community. The well produces approximately 45,000 gallons per day (gpd) during a typical 8 hours of well pump operation. The treatment system was designed for 100 gallons per minute (gpm) with an approximate iron concentration of 1.16 milligrams per liter (mg/L) and manganese levels of up to 0.05 milligrams per liter (mg/L). AdEdge assisted Stewart County Water Department with the necessary drawings, submittals, and technical documents for obtaining the necessary permits to install and operate the new treatment system.

AdEdge recommended an AD26 oxidation/filtration treatment system to reduce these parameters to below MCLs. The proposed integrated AdEdge AD26 iron and manganese treatment system for Stewart County included a pH adjustment module, (existing) pre-chlorination module, and backwash recycle module with integrated controls. The system consisted of a skid mounted model AD26-3660CS-S-2-AVH in parallel configuration, with a Programmable Logic Controller module (PLC) which regulates the automated control valves. System features also includes differential pressure switch, central control panel and local gauges, flow sensors and totalizers, including sample ports for a complete functioning package. Each vessel contains the catalytically active AD26 Manganese Dioxide media. In addition to the treatment system, the integrated water treatment system includes a Soda Ash feed injected prior to the filtration system to raise the raw water pH which is less than 5.5 to approximately 7.5 for enhancing contaminant removal. The treatment system also features a zero discharge backwash recycle module consisting of a backwash recycle pump skid and control panel, bag filter, and a vertical polyethylene storage tank that allows nearly 99% reuse of the backwash water, eliminating the need for discharge permits.

The system was successfully started up and commenced operation in December, 2009. The system throughput is based on a utilization of approximately 7-8 hours per day, with approximately 100 gpm (7.0 gpm/SqFt) being consistently treated for high manganese and iron levels that exceed the MCLs. To date the system’s performance is excellent and consistently achieving MCLs (over 9% removal) for these contaminants with no down time. Independent testing provided by Professional Water Services of Albany, GA, indicates non-detect levels of iron and manganese in the effluent of the treatment system.