Challenge

Radium is naturally occurring in the granite bedrock that surrounds the aquifers in Illinois.  All public water supply wells are required to test for radium on a regular basis.  The U.S. EPA has established a maximum contaminate level (MCL) of 5 picoCuries per liter (pCi/l).

Solution

Ion exchange, lime softening and reverse osmosis are the most common treatment options for radium.  These processes can remove up to 90% of radium present. 

Siemens Water Technologies, formerly USFilter, provided Illinois American Water with three mobile FlexTrex® units to treat approximately 50 gpm.  These skid-mounted ion exchange units are designed to treat flows ranging from 20-250 gpm.  They have convenient disconnects and can be installed and placed into service quickly.  Each unit was filled with cation resin in sodium form to treat the water.

The customer removed the exhausted resin from the vessels and stored it to be reused once the new permanent system was installed.  At that point, the resin would be transferred into the softeners and regenerated on site.

Results

Within one week of the signed contract, Siemens' equipment was on-site and operational.  The company's mobile solution allowed the customer to provide safe drinking water to the community while the new permanent system was built and installed without violating the drinking water standards.

Illinois American Water Project Profile