Potable Water Solutions

June 1, 2012
Facilities install filtration media to increase efficiency

About the author: William Kunzman is vice president of business development for Schreiber LLC

Municipal potable water applications for Schreiber’s Fuzzy Filter have grown during the past few years thanks to a strong relationship the company has established with Strand Associates, Inc., a consulting engineering firm that is active in the water industry. Schreiber currently has two systems successfully operating and a third system scheduled to start in July of 2012. All three systems process membrane backwash water for feeding back into the system, thereby improving the water plant’s overall efficiency. Thus, a greater percentage of raw water entering the municipal plant ends up in the hands of clients.

The first system was installed and activated in March 2003. Two 6-ft-by-6-ft Fuzzy Filters were installed at the George W. Arnold Water Treatment Plant, Logan Todd Regional Water Commission in Guthrie, Ky.

At this facility, raw influent water is pumped from the Cumberland River, 17 miles away, to a raw-water holding lagoon. The influent water then goes into a flocculation basin, where chemical addition occurs. After flocculation, the flow is sent to the settling basin, with sludge draw-off going to a solids-wasting lagoon. The effluent from the settling basin is then pumped to the hollow fiber membrane system. The membrane backwash water is stored in another basin for filtering.

The backwash water from the membranes is filtered and returned to the settling basin, so the filtered water is being recycled back to the membranes. The Fuzzy Filter backwash water discharges to the solids-wasting lagoon along with the sludge from the settling basin. The Fuzzy Filter allows the plant to use this precious 17-mile water to its best advantage.

Next, Schreiber installed two 7-ft-by-7-ft Fuzzy Filters at the Morgantown Utility Board Robert B. Creel Water Treatment Facility in Morgantown, W.Va. The plant was upgrading to hollow fiber membrane technology. Pilot testing in September 2008 resulted in an order in March 2010 and system start-up in September 2011.

A third Fuzzy Filter sale was received in February 2011. A brand-new water plant in Paintsville, Ky., installed one 5-ft-by-5-ft unit. The start-up was completed in December 2012.

Both the Logan Todd and Morgantown Utility Board plants are operating very successfully, and the owners are very pleased with their installations. We have used these plants as references and have organized several site visits for prospective clients. Prospect visits have resulted in Schreiber being selected for two more water plants in West Virginia. The next order is expected in the fall of 2012. Engineering is well underway for this new plant, with order releases to occur after final project funding. The second new project is in the early stages of engineering and should mature in 2013. Both of these projects will be handled by the Chapman Technical Group, which is a West Virginia engineering firm. Chapman pilot-tested the Fuzzy Filter at its client’s existing water plant and also visited the Morgantown installation with its client.

About the Author

William Kunzman

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