One year into the making, Defiance’s water treatment plant may only be days away from firing up a new system that should provide significant improvements to water quality.
The granulated activated carbon system has been under construction since early last year and is nearing completion. The eight, large carbon-filled tanks that will filter the city’s drinking water are housed in their own separate building constructed in recent months and are ready to go.
According to the water plant’s superintendent, Adam McDowell, the system may be going online as early as next week.
“We plan to start up next week,” he said earlier this week. “There’s a good chance on at least a partial basis.”
McDowell is referring to what he calls a “blended flow,” in which the majority — perhaps 70-90% of the water will be run through the carbon filtration tanks.
“The majority of water will be running through it,” he explained.
The reason it won’t yet be 100% is not all the equipment has arrived. Supply-chain issues are to blame for the late arrival of variable frequency drives for the pumps, according to McDowell.
“It’s going to be incomplete,” he said. “We’re going to be running some of the plant through the GAC, but not all of it. We have no way to control the speed of the pumps that will push it through due to supply-chain issues.
“This project has been extremely frustrating,” McDowell added. “All in all I think that we’ve done well compared to others. That supply chain issue is worsening, it’s not getting better. We’re going to make it through this project, and I think we’re going to have a good finished project. I’m sure glad that we’re not starting it (the project) now.”
The contractor for the $9 million project is Peterson Construction Co., Wapakoneta. Related debt service will be repaid over many years, but city customers’ rates aren’t expected to spike because of it.
The project’s main purpose is removing impurities such as trihalomethanes (THMs) which are deemed by EPA to be dangerous to some portions of the population. But it will remove organics generally, which could eliminate occasional problems with taste and odor.
“Historically, everyone over promises and under delivers,” he said, noting with any “taste and odor problems” the system “removes a lot of organic matter. Will the average person see a difference in their water? I don’t know, but seasonal taste (issues) especially should come out.”
The organics removal should ensure that algae-related taste and odor problems should be resolved.
The experiences of the City Celina — whose water supply is algae-plagued Grand Lake St. Marys — serve as a guide. It too has utilized a GAC system.
The system does not rely on chemicals, just a carbon treatment process.
“The nice thing about GAC is you’re not adding another chemical,” he said.
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Originally Appeared Here