Orica Watercare's Low-Waste Nitrate Removal System To Be Installed In Ontario
Recently, the Corporation of the County of Brant, Ontario selected Orica Watercare's ENviroPakTM System to provide low-waste ion exchange treatment for nitrate removal. A new water system in the western part of the County will be supplied by three new wells in the Bethel well field. The nitrate level in these wells ranges from 14 to 20 mg/L N, considerably higher than the Ontario Drinking Water Quality Standard of 10 mg/L N. The ENviroPakTM System will be applied to remove nitrate from the well water sources, allowing the County's new water system to comply with the provincial drinking water standard for nitrate.
After pilot testing reverse osmosis (RO) and ion exchange (IX) technologies, Associated Engineering recommended installation of the following treatment train: raw water well pumping, ion exchange for the nitrate removal, UV, chlorination, fluoridation, and high lift pumping. Although RO was able to achieve the project's nitrate goal of <2.0 mg/L N, several factors ultimately led to the selection of IX:
- Pretreatment was required to prevent RO membrane fouling
- RO recovery was less than 80%
- Hardness addition was required after RO treatment to stabilize water quality
In contrast, recovery through the IX system was significantly higher, and the treated water quality remained stable without further post-IX treatment.
The ENviroPakTM System combines the familiar conventional ion exchange technology with Orica Watercare's waste minimization expertise. The volume of waste brine produced by the process is typically less than 0.5% of the treated water flow. This translates into lower costs for resin regeneration and waste disposal and will allow the Bethel Water Treatment Plant to utilize more of its groundwater supply. More importantly, with significantly less waste discharged than other nitrate removal technologies, the ENviroPak TM System provides the County with a sustainable solution for nitrate removal.
The new water plant is expected to be operational by August 2012.
About Orica Watercare Inc.
Orica Watercare Inc. is the manufacturer of MIEX® Systems and MIEX® Ion Exchange Resins for the reduction of Disinfection By-Products, Dissolved Organic Carbon, Color, Nitrate and Arsenic from water & wastewater streams. Orica Watercare Inc., headquartered in Denver, CO is a subsidiary of the Orica group of companies. The Orica group is the largest supplier of water treatment and industrial chemicals in Australia and New Zealand and is the world's largest supplier of commercial explosives.
SOURCE: Orica Watercare Inc.