The city of Phoenix, Ariz., will be the first U.S. city to have a full-scale arsenic removal system utilizing GFH media. USFilter delivered 60,000 lbs of GFH media for the city's 1.5 million-gallon-per-day (mgd) arsenic removal system. The GFH media, contained in two pressure vessels operated in series, has been installed and commissioning is underway. The plant is scheduled to be fully operational in June 2003.
The city's new arsenic removal plant was driven by the need to meet the more stringent U.S. EPA arsenic standard of 10 mcg/L, which takes effect in 2006. European municipalities have used the GFH media for years to meet the current World Health Organization and European Union arsenic standard of 10 mcg/L.
The arsenic removal system is located at the city's well #280. The media is operated as a fixed-bed adsorber and is installed in pressure vessels to allow a single pumping stage for the treatment system.
"This project demonstrates the feasibility of arsenic treatment at a large well site using the simplest approach possible," said Ramesh Narasimhan, president, Narasimhan Consulting Services (NCS), Inc. of Phoenix, Ariz. "The project team wanted a feasibility demonstration and actual operating experience prior to implementation at other sites. Many utilities in the nation will benefit from our experiece at Well 280."
To select an appropriate adsorption media option, the city's consulting engineer, NCS, conducted benchscale and pilot studies for more than one year, comparing the GFH media's ease-of-use, reduced waste generation, minimal chemical handling requirements and overall performance to three other adsorption media options. In addition, the GFH™ media treated more than five times the bed volumes of its counterparts before being exhausted.
Source: USFilter
