Staff Steps Up as Regulations Demand Lower Finished-Water Turbidity

An Illinois water treatment plant improves water quality and operations with a major upgrade and a team that thrives on challenges.

Jul 15, 2015 | by Trude Witham |

Illinois CB&I Clarifier Leopold - a Xylem Brand Multimedia Filtration TrojanUV UV Disinfection Motorola Solutions SCADA System

Staff Steps Up as Regulations Demand Lower Finished-Water Turbidity — Joe Hogan, Class A operator, checks one of the sensors inside a TrojanUVSwift reactor during routine maintenance at the Otter Lake Water Commission treatment plant.

Staff Steps Up as Regulations Demand Lower Finished-Water Turbidity — Team members at the Otter Lake Water Commission treatment plant include, from left, Stan Crawford, Jeff Stanley, Joe Hogan, Brian Durbin, Rudy Rodriguez, Dennis Ross, Bob Dill and Tim Walter.

Staff Steps Up as Regulations Demand Lower Finished-Water Turbidity — Dennis Ross, general manager

Staff Steps Up as Regulations Demand Lower Finished-Water Turbidity — Plant equipment includes a pair of ClariCone solids contact clarifiers supplied by CB&I.

Staff Steps Up as Regulations Demand Lower Finished-Water Turbidity — Plant team members like Jeff Stanley, lead operator, routinely take initiative in offering ideas and providing labor to improve the facility.

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Operators at the Otter Lake Water Treatment Plant have a lot to be happy about — improved water quality and operations after an $8.5 million upgrade, a supportive water commission and general manager Dennis Ross.Ross brought his operations team through an 18-month improvement project at the plant, in Girard, Illinois. Completed in 2010, it included adding solids contact clarifiers, two new multimedia filters, a new control room and laboratory, and a million-gallon clearwell.In 2013, a UV/advanced oxidation process disinfection system was added to take care of seasonal taste and odor issues. The operators’ learning curve is ongoing. “I’m happy with

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