Taking the Reins

White Horse Youth Ranch in Las Vegas

AdEdge offers numerous custom membrane treatment solutions for reducing total dissolved solids (TDS) in a variety of applications. In 2011, AdEdge was contacted to design a solution for a Las Vegas ranch.

The White Horse Youth Ranch offers underprivileged youth in the area an opportunity to develop respect, trust, responsibility and discipline through learning how to care for and ride a horse.

When some of the horses began getting sick and not eating, they were moved off the ranch and treated. Upon returning to the ranch, they became sick again.

After testing the groundwater, high concentrations of TDS, arsenic and sulfates were found on the property.

The raw water at the ranch has a TDS concentration of 3,680 mg/L. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) maximum contaminant level (MCL) for TDS is 500 mg/L. The arsenic concentration of 0.028 mg/L and the sulfate level of 1,800 mg/L were also well above the MCL of 0.01 mg/L and 250 mg/L, respectively.

“Prior to treating the groundwater supply, they had taken their horses off the ranch’s property and were housing them elsewhere,” said Chad Miller, applications engineer for AdEdge. “Essentially the ranch was shut down until an alternative water source could be identified or treatment of their existing water supply could bring the water to quality.”

The ranch’s owners contacted AdEdge for a treatment solution. By implementing a skid-mounted AdEdge reverse osmosis (RO) unit, AdEdge was able to reduce the facility’s arsenic, sulfate and TDS levels to well below the EPA standards.

AdEdge designed a unit sized for 28 gallons per minute—the size of the existing well’s distribution system. From the well, water is pumped into a 120-gallon hyponeumatic tank that controls pressure.

To eliminate any materials that could potentially clog the membrane, an anti-scalant is injected into the water. From there, it flows into a sediment filter to remove any organics before reaching the RO system, which is made of six 5-inch by 40-inch membranes stacked on top of each other. 

Since the system was started up in October 2011, it has reduced the arsenic concentration to an undetectable level, and the TDS and sulfates have been reduced to well below the EPA’s standard. Today, the White Horse Youth Ranch can continue to its mission to teach important life skills to underprivileged youth with healthy horses.

Contact AdEdge to design a custom membrane treatment system for your site.