Warrendale, Pa., February 17, 2006 -- USFilter Environmental Services, a part of Siemens Water Technologies, was selected by Aquarion Water Company of Massachusetts (Aquarion) to provide a full-scale perchlorate removal ion exchange system. Although used extensively in other parts of the country, this is the first such system to be installed in the eastern U.S. The Siemens solution will enable Aquarion to meet the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MA DEP) perchlorate guidelines for drinking water and eliminate the requirement to purchase supplemental water from the neighboring City of Worcester.
Aquarion owns and operates the Jacques #1 and #2 water supply wells in the Town of Millbury, Mass., located on the scenic Blackstone River. In February 2004, MA DEP instituted interim guidelines to regulate the levels of perchlorate in public drinking water supplies. The guidelines also require water systems to periodically sample for perchlorate based on the type of supply source.
In April 2004, Aquarion’s Millbury Water Supply was tested for perchlorate. The Jacques #1 and Jacques #2 wells were found to have perchlorate levels at 42.6 ppb and 18.45 ppb, respectively. Upon confirming the laboratory analysis, Aquarion immediately took the two wells off-line and stopped using the affected water until a perchlorate removal treatment system could be installed.
The two wells remained off-line while Aquarion, its former engineering subsidiary, Aquarion Engineering Services (now Edwards and Kelcey) and the company’s construction partner, R. H. White Construction Company, reviewed various treatment approaches and technologies. The selected treatment system, which was approved by the MA DEP, had to remove perchlorate to less than 1 ppb or lower in the effluent and be capable of interfacing with the flows and pressure requirements for the two wells and the distribution system.
Aquarion selected a full-scale perchlorate removal ion exchange system from Siemens. The system consists of two 12-foot diameter tanks containing a single-use special resin designed to remove perchlorate from the water by an ion exchange process. Once the water leaves the tanks, it is chemically treated for disinfection and pH adjustment for corrosion control. After this treatment, it is sent into the distribution system.
The resin used in the treatment system is highly selective for perchlorate. Tim Peschman, remediation product manager for Siemens Water Technologies, explains that the perchlorate irreversibly attaches itself to the ion exchange resin and is destroyed by the subsequent incineration of the spent resin. Additionally, the use of perchlorate-selective resins offers significantly reduced operational costs for treatment with ion exchange.
“We chose a system that other communities have used successfully to address perchlorate issues and we anticipate will get the best results at the most reasonable cost,” says Larry L. Bingaman, senior vice president of operations for Aquarion Water Company of Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Less than a month after the contaminant removal system was approved by the MA DEP and placed in service, perchlorate was at non-detect levels in treated water from the two Jacques Wells. The new facility has been treating water from the two wells since June 2005.
While the MA DEP has yet to issue a Notice of Responsibility, indications point to the perchlorate contamination originating from blasting used during the construction of a nearby mall.