Water treatment systems installed in remote locations require customized design strategies to minimize the requirement for frequent operator site visits. Unique challenges such as site access, system automation, waste management, and consumable usage and storage all need to be addressed in the final design. Optimizing the system for efficient water recovery can drive the most critical design elements. The City of Fine, New York, in agreement with the Development Authority of the North Country and Barton & Loguidice, D.P.C., elected to install a remotely accessible ultrafiltration system in Star Lake, New York to provide the necessary upgrades to the water treatment and distribution system per governmental authority requirements and the community needs. Due to the remote location of the ultrafiltration system, liquid discharge and storage capacity was limited, which made waste handling one of the most critical design component for this system. The design needed to be installed in a pre-fabricated building with limited available space, and requested an expedited schedule. The pre-engineered system was customized to the project specific needs and continuous collaboration between manufacturer and design engineer led to system delivery just 10 weeks after award: roughly 20 weeks ahead of the contract schedule. The system was then installed into the prefabricated building and later delivered to site. Piloting and design processes, installation, and final operational results for the newly installed ultrafiltration system are outlined in this presentation. The system consists of a single unit capable of treating a feed flow of 330 gpm with 15 modules installed and a capacity for up to 18 modules. The unit is a pre-engineered, packaged system with on-skid feed and backwash pumps, self-cleaning prestrainer, instrumentation and valves, and integrated clean-in-place system with chemical dosing pumps and tankage. Controls are fully automated and include remote access capabilities for continuous monitoring and remote operation. Raw water from Star Lake is fed directly to the membrane system. Lake turnover throughout the year results in variable feed turbidity to the system. Despite the changes in feed water quality and temperature, the system can produce consistent filtrate with a turbidity of < 0.10 NTU 95% of the time with a maximum turbidity of 0.3 NTU. The system performs an automatic hydraulic backwashes and uses chemical maintenance cleans to suppress fouling, and consistently operates at 97% recovery to limit the amount of waste generated on-site. Waste generated on-site from backwashes and chemical cleans is collected in a septic tank and slowly released to a percolation field. The flexible nature of the UF system lends itself to running at a lower flux and flowrate when demand is below peak. This results in a lower time-averaged backwash flowrate which provides the septic system more time to work properly. The automated design allows for continuous monitoring of the quantity of waste generated and filtrate quality being produced to ensure a balanced and optimized system. The system meets or exceeds the specified drinking water requirements for this site; the filtrate turbidity averages <0.044 NTU 95% of the time, which is a noticeable improvement for the residents connected to the distribution system.
This presentation is available to AMTA Members only.
Speaker
- Chelsea Jensen
Company
- WesTech Engineering
Event
- AMTA/AWWA Membrane Master Class Webinar II - Part 4, Online
Session
- AMTA/AWWA Membrane Master Class Webinar Series II
Date
- 04/30/21
Media
Keywords
- Package System, Ultrafiltration, Remote Systems
Reference
- 9610-DP2541