Problem: The Clapper Road Water Treatment Plant in Bethlehem, New York, included chlorine injection into the raw water to oxidize dissolved iron and manganese. While the plant was designed to treat 6 mgd, the chlorination process was limited to 3 mgd. In 2013, after the U.S. EPA began requiring stricter monitoring of trihalomethanes, the plant was in violation and community leaders quickly commissioned a plant improvement.
Solution: A new pretreatment facility was installed to inject concentrated oxygen to oxidize the dissolved iron and help oxidize of dissolved manganese. The process uses an in-line gas contacting system (Mazzei Injector Company) consisting of three oxygen injection skids and a single pipeline flash reactor a two-on-duty, one-on-standby configuration to provide flexibility to handle turndown and redundancy requirements. This system is simple to operate and requires a small footprint.
Result: The system and other upgrades implemented enabled the plant to reduce THM levels by 40-50%, improve the efficiency of the dissolved air flotation system, and expand treatment capacity to 8 mgd, all without adding to plant operators’ workload. 661-363-6500; www.mazzei.net
