A Plant Team Responds to a Disastrous Chlorine Leak With Quick Repairs and a Long-Term Improvements

A chlorine leak disabled the Norton water plant’s electrical and control systems. The team responded with quick repairs and big long-term process improvements.

Jun 19, 2018 | by Jim Force |

Kansas Chlorine Leak Rural Water Associations Award Hawkins Water Treatment Group Chemicals Chemical Feed Equipment/System Hach Turbidity Meter

A Plant Team Responds to a Disastrous Chlorine Leak With Quick Repairs and a Long-Term Improvements — Amlong and the plant team received the 2017 Most Improved Water System award from the Kansas Rural Water Association.

A Plant Team Responds to a Disastrous Chlorine Leak With Quick Repairs and a Long-Term Improvements — After a variety of improvements, the Norton plant produces water averaging 0.01 to 0.03 NTU, and its disinfection byproducts are at the lowest level ever.

A Plant Team Responds to a Disastrous Chlorine Leak With Quick Repairs and a Long-Term Improvements — The Norton Water Treatment Plant team includes, from left, Joyce Garrison, assistant supervisor; Jamie Amlong, supervisor; and Drew Eagleburger, operator.

A Plant Team Responds to a Disastrous Chlorine Leak With Quick Repairs and a Long-Term Improvements — Supervisor Jamie Amlong and his team turned an emergency into an opportunity to improve their plant.

A Plant Team Responds to a Disastrous Chlorine Leak With Quick Repairs and a Long-Term Improvements — Norton Water Treatment Plant supervisor Jamie Amlong (left), and operator Drew Eagleburger check water turbidity using a Hach 2100N turbidimeter.

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When Jamie Amlong drove into the Norton (Kansas) Water Treatment Plant on a May morning in 2016, he had no idea he was about to confront a catastrophe. He could smell chlorine gas and, assuming there was a small leak somewhere, he walked up to the chlorine contact building. That’s when he noticed green gas puffing out around the door and a 15-foot patch of grass around the entrance burned to a crisp. “A faulty heater had warmed up the room to the point where the lead plug on one of our chlorine cylinders melted,” he recalls. The entire contents of the

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