Our main goal with any project is always clean, safe
drinking water—but a little recognition is always nice too! This past year,
AdEdge designed a water system
to provide a Montana community access to cleaner, safer drinking water, and
that system was recently named the state’s project of the year.
The groundwater system in Great Falls, Mont., had exceeded
the acceptable arsenic level
since 2004. In 2008, the system, which serves more than 500 people, was placed
under an administrative order from the Montana Department of Environmental
Quality for its arsenic levels that exceeded EPA standards.
In addition to the possible negative health effects for the
community, the water district was about to face large fines for lack of
compliance with the arsenic limits. In November 2009, Gore Hill contacted
AdEdge to design a treatment system to remove the arsenic and iron from two
water treatment plant wells.
At the time AdEdge was brought in, the raw water for Plant
#1 had an average arsenic level of 18 ppb and an iron level of 1.39 mg/L and
Plant #2 had an average arsenic level of 21 ppb and an average iron level of
4.51 mg/L. To put that in perspective, the EPA’s maximum contaminant levels for
arsenic and manganese are 10 ppb and 0.3 mg/L, respectively.
Jason Parris, project manager for the Gore Hill project,
explained why arsenic can be such a dangerous contaminant.
“Arsenic is a known carcinogen and is linked to problems
with skin and the circulatory system,” he said. “Arsenic in drinking water is
at very low levels, but prolonged exposure can lead to these symptoms.”
AdEdge designed two treatment systems, each with a
skid-mounted AD26 oxidation and filtration package unit. Each site also
received a recycle backwash system that reclaims the backwash wastewater and
removes the contaminants as a non-hazardous sludge that can be safely disposed
of.
What a difference a year makes! The system was started up in
April 2011 and since then, both the iron and arsenic levels have been reduced
to non-detectable levels. And AdEdge remains on standby to provide any
assistance to the district when needed.
All that hard work paid off. Not only did AdEdge help ensure
that the community had clean, safe drinking water, in February, Montana Rural
Water Systems honored the Gore Hill Water District with the Outstanding Water
Treatment System of the Year award. AdEdge was grateful to be part of that
accomplishment.
“AdEdge was very proud of the Gore Hill System,” Parris
said. “The contractor and engineer involved did a great job on the design and
installation. The system has been
shown off many times by the operators.”
To read more about the Gore Hill project, click here.
Posts
