​​Filtration Plant

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

OVERVIEW

In the mid-1990's, two new raw water wells were put into production to serve the residents of Spangler.  Iron and manganese levels in the raw water were less than 1 mg/L and the Authority was issued a permit to sequester the iron and manganese by adding a chemical agent.  As the iron and manganese levels increased with time, the sequestering became less effective and the iron and manganese preceipitated out in the piping and tanks of the water system.  This caused the water to become cloudy, dirty and odorous.

On March 4, 2004, the Department of Environmental Protection issued a Notice of Violation instructing the Authority to address the iron and manganese issue.

In February, 2007, the Authority issued contracts to construct a 300,000 gallon per day Greensand Filtration Plant to eliminate the iron and manganese from the finished drinking water.

In February, 2008, the Authority began producing water with iron and manganese levels of nearly zero.


TREATMENT PLANT EQUIPMENT and CHEMICAL SUMMARY

Chemicals:
Chlorine in the form of Sodium Hypochlorite - used to oxidize iron and disinfect the finished water.
Postassium Permanganate - used to oxidize manganese

Chemical Feed System:
Three chemical feed systems are installed, one for each chemical named above and a third intended for feeding a corrosion/pH control chemical
Greensand Filters:

Three stainless steel filters supplied with anthracite coal and Greensand, (also known as Glauconite) capable of filtering 300,000 gallons per day of water.  This system includes a computer controlled monitoring and backwash system.

Pumps:
Backwash & Backwash Waste - to supply and waste backwash water.  
Recycle - to recycle 70% of the backwash for reuse.
Domestic Water - to supply chemical feed and domestic water for the plant.Compressed Air System:
To supply air to operate the pneumatic valves associated with the filters.
Air Blowers:
used to supply air to scour the filters during backwashing.

Tanks:

Backwash supply and disinfection storage - holds 20,000 gallons of water in reserve for backwashing of the filters.  When the filters are not backwashing, these tanks overflow to the supply system.
Waste Holding and Decanting - to hold and decant dirty waste (backwash) water.

Class 5 Shallow Injection Well System:
A 10,000 square foot system used to dispose of settled backwash water.