Maintaining water quality is critical in the public water marketplace. Employing the best technology and expertise provides assurance to communities that their drinking water is safe and meets all appropriate standards. There are situations that occur within the public water system that requires immediate action.
Recently, USFilter helped manage a client?s emergency drinking water needs in crisis situations by employing temporary mobile water treatment systems to ensure an uninterrupted supply of high-quality potable water.
In June 2004, USFilter commenced a 30-day contract with the Cucamonga Valley Water District (CVWD) in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. for the removal of nitrate from the district?s drinking water supply.
Avoiding system failure
The CVWD receives a significant portion of their water from the Los Angeles Metropolitan Water District (MWD). The MWD determined that there was an imminent chance of failure in the supply line to the city and notified the CVWD they would need to shut off their supply for several weeks while repairs were made.
The city had a choice of either bringing nitrate contaminated wells back on line to make up for the short fall or impose severe water rationing on the community they supply.?With the maximum contamination level (MCL) for nitrates at 45 ppm, the option to bring these dormant wells back on line was not initially viable because the contamination level of one well was above 60 ppm and the other was 80 ppm.
The California Department of Heath Services suggested USFilter?s services and capabilities to the CVWD based on previous projects in California. The company?s solution included placing two mobile demineralization trailers using virgin NSF anion resin in chloride form in the ion exchange process on the well site.
The resin exchanges were performed on-site by swapping out trailers so the CVWD would not experience downtime due to resin regeneration. Further, because they did not have a connection to a local brine line, the trailers were easily and quickly regenerated at USFilter?s Los Angeles regeneration facility as they were exhausted.
USFilter was able to help avoid the CVWD from imposing severe water restrictions. Within one week of the signed contract, equipment was on-site and operational. Within hours of start-up, a nitrate effluent level below 5 ppm was achieved.
"The assistance USFilter provided was critical to ensure that we were able to meet the water supply needs of our customers for public health and safety," said Robert DeLoach, general manager and CEO of the CVWD.
"Their ability to quickly mobilize and implement the treatment system demonstrates their expertise in these types of situations and their commitment to customer service," he added.
Bob Newton is vice president of municipal services for the USFilter Corp. He can be reached at 215/321-4599 or by e-mail at [email protected].
