WaterProfessionals® Completes Special Water Treatment System for the US Army Corps of Engineers
Greenville, SC, USA - The WaterProfessionals® team was recently enlisted by Uncle Sam and the United States Army, but not in the traditional sense. This time the company was called upon to serve by designing and installing a complete potable water treatment system for the US Army Corps of Engineers at the Fort Stewart Army base in Savannah, GA.
The system - which has a flow rate of 1000 gallons per minute - is a complex and highly technical one. Features include, for example, prechlorination from wells, media filters, water softeners, bisulfite injection, reverse osmosis systems, chemical injection for pH adjustment, post chlorination, post fluoridation and repressurization.
Not only were the engineering and design specifications exceptionally demanding, but the timeline for installation of the system also imposed extreme constraints. But the WaterProfessionals® team has a reputation for rising to any challenge a customer might have, and that is one reason why the Army selected WaterProfessionals® over other competitive bidders.
Because the project was already severely behind schedule before the contract was awarded, WaterProfessionals® had less than two weeks to provide complete submittals and a pressing 12-week delivery deadline, which is about half the time a job of that magnitude would ordinarily require.
"The preliminary process required getting stamped approvals from a licensed PE and generating submittals for review by the Army Corp of Engineers and the State of Georgia with little room for error or revision," said WaterProfessionals® spokesperson Randy Leathers. "But a complete package was provided to enable a swift review and contract award, and a fully operational system was up and running right on time - even despite several unexpected logistical problems."
The actual wells did not begin pumping until after the system had been built, for example, and significant changes were required to meet water quality standards. The new inlet water characteristics contained high hardness, barium, high sulfates and high strontium - and high concentrations of these ions create an extreme scaling issue for reverse osmosis membranes. Antiscalants alone would not prevent the scaling problems, and due to the extremely high hardness levels, softening of the entire stream was not feasible because of the prohibitive salt costs.
WaterProfessionals® recommended a solution that softened 50 percent of the stream to reduce costs while it also lowered concentrations to a level that made antiscalants effective. The system then treated 80 percent of the water with reverse osmosis systems and a 20 percent softened well water blend - a treatment scheme that created well water that meets all safe water drinking act standards.
About WaterProfessionals®:
WaterProfessionals® is a leading provider of high quality processed water and water-related services for a variety of industries worldwide. The company's client list includes industry leaders such as IBM, Boeing, Alcoa, BASF, Duke Energy, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Georgia Pacific, P&G, Hyundai Motors, and 3M. Learn more about the company and its services and capabilities by visiting the website www.waterprofessionals.com.
