Osmonics, Inc., has received a third order from the city of Pascagoula, Miss., worth $1 million for two skid-mounted reverse osmosis (RO) systems to purify city water. Designed especially for municipal water treatment, the custom systems will augment four existing Osmonics RO systems already in operation. In order to maintain standardization, all six units will use Osmonics’ 824 — LE (PA) replacement membrane elements.
Pascagoula, a city of more than 27,000 citizens, currently has the capacity to purify 3.5 million gallons per day, representing 80 percent of the total daily city water needs. Scheduled to be in operation by early 2002, the two RO systems will produce an additional 2.2 million gallons of purified water per day, treating 100 percent of the city’s water supply.
"We did a lot of pilot studies on different types of equipment and we discovered that reverse osmosis was the best for our needs," said Jeff Hutchinson, Pascagoula’s water systems superintendent. "Our water is definitely more clear -- it went from a tea color to crystal-clear -- and everybody likes the taste of the water now."
Pascagoula’s source water is tainted with tannins and contains high concentrations of dissolved minerals that make it difficult to drink in its untreated state due to off-color and taste.
"Before the Osmonics RO equipment was installed, it was said that Pascagoula’s water was the ‘worst water in Mississippi,’" said Curt Weitnauer, vice president and general manager of Osmonics’ Process Water Group. "Now, residents have quality drinking water and can finally wash their whites and keep them white. The additional systems make Pascagoula the largest municipal RO installation in Mississippi and Alabama that we’re aware of."
Additionally, this order includes an Osmonics ozone sterilizing system used to kill bacteria and other potential contaminants and to remove any remaining trace color that might be left after the RO process.
Source: Osmonics, Inc.
