Small Town, Big Contamination

The village of Dewitt is located in the heart of Illinois, more than 150 miles from Chicago. Although the town has a population of only 200 residents, a number of contaminants had taken up residence in its water supply.

In 2011, Urbana, Ill.-based consulting firm Berns, Clancy and Associates contacted AdEdge to help clean up the community’s water supply. The filter system was not meeting regulatory requirements,with its elevated levels of arsenic, iron and manganese, and hydrogen sulfide. In addition to these contaminants, the water also had high levels of phosphate, ammonia and total organic carbon.

Using a 50-gallon-per-minute treatment system composed of four 24-inch carbon steel vessels arranged in a parallel configuration, AdEdge tackled the contamination. The vessels were loaded with AdEdge’s AD26 oxidation/filtration media for the removal of arsenic, iron and manganese, and hydrogen sulfide. AD26 media is a NSF 61-certified, manganese dioxide-based filter media. The high filtration rate of the AD26 media allows for the removal of the contaminants while maintaining the existing building’s small footprint.

The AD26 media in the presence of a strong oxidant, which is injected into the raw water, acts as a catalyst for the accelerated removal of the contaminants. The programmable logic controller (PLC) initiates an automatic backwash of the treatment vessels to remove any precipitated solids that may accumulate in the media bed and to extend the life of the AD26 media.

Backwashing occurs one vessel at a time to ensure water is continuously being treated throughout the day. The system fully integrates with the existing post-chlorination system that addresses the high ammonia levels in the water before going to distribution.

The system was successfully commissioned in July 2013. Today, it treats more than 30,000 gallons of water each day, reducing each contaminant to non-detectable levels.

AdEdge’s packaged treatment systems are the ideal contamination solution for small community drinking water systems. Contact AdEdge and let us create a cleaner, safer water supply for your customers. 

World Water Day Series #2 - Nuisance Contaminants? Iron and Manganese in Your Water

By Chad Miller, Project Manager

Welcome to our blog series in honor of World Water Day on Friday, March 22^nd! The United Nations declared 2013 as the “International Year of Water Cooperation.” The employees at AdEdge have a passion for clean water and providing safe drinking water for people throughout the world. Over the next week and half, we will be exploring some of the ways AdEdge is making a difference in helping the global water crisis.

Groundwater throughout the world is plagued with high levels of naturally occurring metals.  Most often we find iron and manganese present in groundwater.  While these elements have little health risk, they are not easily overlooked by residents in the community with iron and manganese attributing to orange and black stains in toilets, sinks, and all water appliances of the home.  You also have most communities with industries, which uses equipment in contact with water that builds up with iron and manganese scale resulting in a loss of productivity.

   

Everyday people can see the trouble of iron and manganese if they, but they do not see these same problems occurring on a much larger scale in community water lines and pumps.   Just recently a utility director explained to me that an 8-inch water main is reduced to 2-inches in diameter due to scale build-up.  He combats this by adding sequestering chemicals and flushing his hydrants monthly to blow out the scale.  Who wants to have their streets flooded by the city when there is a water shortage?  If nothing else it’s bad PR. 

Filtering the iron and manganese prevents iron and manganese from building up scale in the water lines -- this is nothing new.  But, with the advent of H2Zero Backwash Recycle System – AdEdge does not generate a wastewater stream in the filtration process.  And you can forget about the requesting chemicals that are known to proliferate algae growth in lakes and streams.   It’s a win – win! 

Get Rid of the Red

AD26 system in Corona, N.M.

At AdEdge, we’ve found that the number one issue our customers have is dealing with iron and manganese contaminations. And it’s easy to see why.

Although iron and manganese are secondary contaminants and not a health risk, they manage to offend most of the senses. Water contaminated with iron has an unpleasant metallic taste. The water itself is typically clear as it comes out of the faucet, but if left exposed to oxygen, it can turn an unappealing rusty color.

The water can also leave an ugly red-brown stain on appliances, plumbing fixtures and clothing. An iron and manganese contamination can damage pipes, causing corrosion and discoloration. When used in cooking, it can turn vegetables a dark color, and it can turn your coffee and tea black, with unpleasant flavors all around.

If you’re not a fan of bitter tea and rusty clothing, AdEdge has some options to rid your water supply of iron and manganese. 

While effective at removing hydrogen sulfide, the AD26 and ADGS+ media are also useful in removing iron and manganese.  We’ve implemented hundreds of systems with both types of media and have had incredibly successful results.

The AD26 system we installed for the Village of Corona, N.M. drastically reduced the iron and manganese levels that were making washing dishes, doing laundry and taking a shower difficult. Another AD26 system, at the McGraw Hill data center in East Windsor, N.J., receives water nearly 22 hours per day to treat up to 110 gallons of water per minute to reduce the iron and manganese levels below the treatment goals.

In Aurora, Ore., AdEdge started up a system using ADGS+ media to treat an iron and manganese contamination, as well as elevated arsenic levels. The system has since reduced all three contaminants to well below the treatment goals.

Let the proven success of one of AdEdge’s systems work for your water supply, to get rid of iron and manganese for good. 

AdEdge Wins Montana Project of the Year

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.

AdEdge System Treats Excessive Uranium, Iron and Manganese. Relieves Village Residents of Reliance on Bottled Water.

by Joseph Naylor

Imagine getting notice that the water you and your family have been drinking has excessive uranium levels, and is unsafe to drink.  And then, having to become reliant on bottled water that you have to drive to town to get to use for drinking, cooking, coffee, ice, etc...you get the picture.  Now imagine having to do it for nearly 7 years.  

Recently, AdEdge Water Technologies completed a water treatment project for the Village of Clarks, located in central Nebraska. In 2000, the village was alerted that the water from their public drinking water system contained high uranium levels of over 200 ppb, which far exceeded the proposed EPA Maximum Contaminant Limits (MCLs) of 30 ppb.  In 2005, the Village received an Administrative Order from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services for non-compliance with the new uranium MCL.  As a result, free, bottled water was provided to Village residents.  In order to comply with the State of Nebraska drinking water regulations, the Village of Clarks needed to enhance their existing water system to remove the uranium, as well as  high iron & manganese levels which were also present in the water. Today, residents see and taste clean water, right from the tap.

To treat the excessive uranium, iron, & manganese levels, AEdge engineers designed a 200 gpm packaged treatment solution that included an AdEdge Model AD26 oxidation / filtration system featuring AdEdge AD26 media, followed by an AD92 uranium removal system featuring AdEdge AD92 IX media. 

The system was started up on January 11, 2012.  A report of the first four (4) weekly effluent samples indicate the source water influent Uranium levels were being treated to below the Minimum Detection Level, taking almost all of the Uranium out of the source water.  A letter from the Monitoring and Compliance Section of the Nebraska Public Drinking Water Program was recently sent to Village board members stating the Village may immediately cease providing alternate water for the purposes of drinking and cooking.  For more information about AdEdge Water Treatment Systems, contact AdEdge Water Technologies.    info@adedgetechnologies.com   1-866-823-3343

AdEdge AD26 Iron & Manganese Removal System McGraw Hill Data Center

New AdEdge Video features Customer Testimonial About AdEdge AD26 Arsenic Removal Treatment System in Anthony, NM

AdEdge Technologies released a new video that features testimony from Pete Gomez, Water Operator for Desert Sands MDWCA, Anthony, NM. AdEdge installed a 450gpm AD26 Packaged Water Treatment system to remove arsenic, iron & manganese. http://www.adedgetechnologies.com/

New AdEdge Iron Removal System Case Study Video Features Town Residents.

AdEdge released a new case study video featuring the Village of Corona, NM and how the AdEdge AD26 iron & manganese system has improved the water in the community. the video features testimony from the Director of Public Works, community residents, a restaurant, and the community Mayor.
http://www.youtube.com/water684z#p/a/u/0/qCAgPdoUkgg

Adedge Technologies, Water Treatment Systems

Quoted from http://www.adedgetech.com/oxidation_filtration.html:

Adedge Technologies, Water Treatment Systems

Oxidation Filtration

Oxidation/filtration refers to precipitative processes that are designed to remove naturally occurring iron, manganese, and sulfides from water. The processes involve the oxidation of the soluble forms of these contaminants to their insoluble forms and then removal by filtration of the precipitated particles.

Arsenic may be removed with the iron in some cases. Arsenic can be removed via two primary mechanisms: adsorption and co-precipitation. In groundwater containing both iron and arsenic, they are usually found in their reduced form. For optimum arsenic removal, a chemical oxidant such as sodium hypochlorite is often needed. Oxidized arsenic then adsorbs onto the iron hydroxide particles that are ultimately filtered out of solution. The arsenic removal efficiency is strongly dependent on the initial iron and arsenic concentrations.

The AdEdge Technologies oxidation/ filtration medias have high catalytic and oxidation activity, superior handling properties and stability, NSF 61 certification, require no permanganate or coagulation addition and low capital and operating costs compared to other alternatives due to the smaller system footprints. We have over 300 public water system installations and over 3,000 residential installations, more than any company in the U.S.

AdEdge Treatment System Solves Arsenic Issue for Indiana School

AdEdge was selected in 2007 by the U.S. EPA and the host site in the Round 2a Arsenic Demonstration Program to implement a turnkey arsenic treatment for the Clinton Christian School in Goshen, IN. The Clinton Christian School water system is served by one well with a design flow of 25 gpm. The well provides potable water for the school with a population of 130 students / staff members. The treatment system receives water on the well side of the storage tanks with an elevated iron level of 0.81 mg/L, high manganese of 0.10 mg/l and an arsenic level of 29 ppb, above the EPA MCL of 10 ppb. AdEdge was contracted by U.S. EPA to provide and manage all aspects of the project including permitting with IDEM, design, and fabrication, installation, and startup activities. The system was AdEdge’s 11th full scale EPA demonstration project.

AdEdge proposed and installed a hybrid style treatment system designed to reduce iron, manganese and arsenic concurrently to below primary and secondary MCLs. The system utilizes an AD26 Oxidation/Filtration pretreatment technology followed by granular ferric oxide adsorption deploying Bayoxide® E33 GFO media. The design also includes a backwash management system capable of removing residual chlorine from the periodic backwash water to comply with the site’s NPDES discharge permit. The packaged modular system features a triplex 13-inch diameter composite filtration package plumbed in a parallel flow prior to the dual 24-inch composite module containing AdEdge Bayoxide® E33 adsorption media. The system is placed after a pre-chlorination module for oxidation of iron and manganese, as well as arsenic (III) species. The modular treatment system is equipped with automatic controls, backwashing features, switches, gauges, flow meters, and sample ports for a complete functioning unit.

Since full time operation began in February, 2008, the system has effectively reduced iron, manganese, and arsenic well below primary and secondary MCLs. Over 95% of iron and manganese and 85% arsenic reduction is being accomplished with the AD26 pretreatment technology. Arsenic in the final treated water following adsorption has consistantly been < 2 ppb. Approximately 2,500 gallons per day is being processed through the system on average. The site’s operator performs the routine sample collection and reporting associated with the U.S. EPA’s Demonstration Program requirements with quarterly reporting of the data by EPA’s contractor Battelle. A EPA summary report is publically available on the EPA website.

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.