What the City of Kalama spent on its diatomaceous earth (DE) water filtration plant in 2002 has been more than made up for in operational savings since then. Reason? The plant essentially runs by itself, allowing Kelly Rasmussen and his staff of four to concentrate on their many other public works duties.“If you’re looking for good water filtration, this is it,” says Rasmussen, public works superintendent for this Washington city of 3,900. “It’s not cheap but it’s efficient and pretty simple.” Simple enough so that Rasmussen can watch the plant on a SCADA system at his office five miles away
