City of Vineland, N.J., Awards Hungerford & Terry Decontamination Contract

First system to be delivered by mid-April 2009Hungerford & Terry, Inc. has been selected by the city of Vineland, N.J., to design equipment to remove radium from four municipal city wells. All of the systems for the four designated wells are identical in specifications and design, and each one includes two 102-in. diameter exchangers to remove radium.

Hungerford & Terry will deliver the first system for the Vineland radium removal project in mid-April 2009, with the final system being delivered by mid-June 2009. Prior to this radium removal process, the city of Vineland had been unable to utilize these wells because they exceeded the MCL drinking water regulations for radium. With the growth of the Vineland, N.J., area and new expansion of their municipal water system, it was essential to bring these wells into compliance in order to meet Vineland’s growing demand for potable water.

The treated effluent from each well will have less than 5 pCi/L combined radium 226 & 228. Dow RSC radium selective resin containing microcrystals of barium sulfate is used to trap the radium and hold it. Once a preset number of gallons have been treated, the resin is removed from the exchanger and disposed of in a licensed landfill. Other radium removal processes today may involve a backwash or regeneration process, putting the radium back into the environment after initial removal. With this process, the resin holds onto the radium that is removed from the environment and no liquid waste containing radium is generated.

Source: Hungerford & Terry