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Water Treatment Plant Upgrade
UV (Ultra Violet Light) Disinfection Project
Partially Funded by:
Project Description
Ultra-violet disinfection systems have been used for some time in the water and wastewater industry to inactivate bacteria. Recent research has shown that UV disinfection is also very effective at inactivating parasites, such as giardia (beaver fever) and cryptosporidium.
Parasites exist in all surface water supplies, and can exist in the natural environment for extended periods.
Over the past ten years there have been several documented cases of parasites being spread through municipal water systems, resulting in many people becoming sick and several deaths. After documented cases (Milwaukee and Kelowna) the outbreak has been the result of either the failure of a treatment system or had occurred in areas where there is little or no treatment. As parasites are resistant to chlorine, disinfection is not adequate protection for a municipal system.
New regulations are being drafted, which will likely be implemented over the next five to ten years. They will require multi-barrier protection against parasites and other contaminates.
While the Camrose Water Treatment Plant has three separate physical processes which should remove any parasites that are in the water (clarification, lime softening, filtration) our current disinfection system would not adequately inactivate any parasites if these physical processes failed.
The UV System will be installed at the end of the current water treatment process prior to our chlorination disinfection step. This will provide an extra “barrier” and will provide additional protection against parasites, as well as bacteria in the unlikely event that the physical systems break down.
It should be mentioned that whether or not the UV System is in place, if there is any problem with the physical treatment process, the treated water from the plant is directed to waste (and not into the distribution system) until the problem is corrected. We would never want to rely solely on the disinfection system to provide protection and treatment.
The UV system selected is manufactured by Calgon, who hold the patent on the UV disinfection process for drinking water. EPCOR Water Services of Edmonton have provided design services and are the local supplier of Calgon UV Systems. Magal Manufacturing of Camrose designed and constructed the piping modifications required within the Water Treatment Plant to accommodate the installation.
The system selected for Camrose is the 4x4k SentinalTM Reactor. This reactor has four 4kw medium pressure UV lamps which are inserted in special quartz tubes. You can see the four access panels along the front of the unit. Each Quartz tube is equipped with a wire brush wiper which moves back and forth along the tube to keep it clean. UV light sensors monitor the amount of UV light being applied to the water to insure that adequate treatment is taking place. The system is controlled by a PLC (Programable Logic Controller), which is a small industrial computer. The unit is connected to the Water Treatment Plant Computer system so that all the data can be logged and so that the plant can automatically shut down if a problem occurs. Under normal operation one, two or three of the four UV lamps will run. The fourth lamp is turned on automatically if one of the others burns out. The number of lamps run depends on the water flow rate.
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Installation of UV Reactor by Magel Manufacturing of Camrose |
Installation nearing completion |
Budget and Funding
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Total Project Cost |
$280,000.00 |
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Camrose Water Fund (From Water Rates) |
$200,000.00 |
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Provincial Grant |
$80,000.00 |
Schedule
UV unit delivery - March 2001
Piping Modifications and Installation - March 2001
Start Up - May 2001
For More Information Contact the Engineering Department at 672-4428.