Challenge

In 1998, operations came to a halt at the Salt Springs WTP in Salt, Jordan due to a water contamination problem. U.S. officials said the springs that supply the water to the plant, Hazeer, Baquiriya and Shuray, were contaminated with the bacteria, fecal coliform, along with cryptosporidium and giardia. 

The presence of fecal coliform bacteria in aquatic environments indicates the water has been contaminated with the fecal materials produced by man or animals. Such organisms can cause intestinal infection, dysentery, hepatitis, typhoid, cholera and other illnesses.

Solution

The USFilter MEMCOR® Continuous Microfiltration System was chosen as the new “state-of-the-art” membrane filtration system to filter the organisms from the water. The plant was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). 

The microfiltration water plant is part of a strategy adopted by the Water Ministry to use every single drop of water available in their aquatic resources. 

Water passes through the units’ membrane walls, but any suspended solid cannot penetrate the outside film. Periodically, each filter is backwashed using compressed air. This system is designed to produce 6.34 MGD of finished water with all seven units running on raw feed water.

Results

The Salt WTP was successfully installed by Morganti Group International, under the supervision of CDM International, Inc., as a turnkey project in July 2001. It includes pumps, strainers, MCC and interconnecting pipe work.

Currently, 127,500 citizens, 85% of the population of Salt City, are provided with quality drinking water from the new MEMCOR® CMF plant.