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| September 21, 2012 |
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Portland Water District breaks ground on New England’s second largest UV Water Treatment Facility |
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| MEDIA ADVISORY:
What: Ultraviolet Light Water Treatment Facility and Ozone Facility Upgrade Ground Breaking Ceremony and $300,000 Efficiency Maine Grant Presentation When: Tuesday, October 2, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. Where: Sebago Lake Water Treatment Facility, 2 White Rock Road, Standish, ME Who: Officials from the State, Portland Water District, and Efficiency Maine will briefly explain the importance of this energy-efficient project to the quality of the area’s drinking water. Construction is underway on a $12.8 million upgrade to the Sebago Lake Water Treatment Facility, which supplies drinking water to 15% of Maine’s population. The 17-month project will install a new ultraviolet light disinfection system and upgrade the 20-year-old ozone treatment process. “After a successful pilot program, we chose to install UV treatment to meet new federal rules,” stated PWD’s project manager, Gordon Johnson.” The Long Term Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT2) requires surface water suppliers to enhance current systems to further treat for possible pathogens like cryptosporidium. Although PWD has never detected cryptosporidium in the water, there is a risk of contamination. The EPA considers UV as the ‘best available technology’ for cryptosporidium and giardia treatment. “UV is a highly effective treatment, economical, and energy efficient. It requires no bulk chemicals and is a fairly natural process,” says water plant manager, Joel Anderson. The Portland Water District received a $300,000 competitive grant from Efficiency Maine for the project, which is anticipated to save about $100,000 a year in energy savings. The UV system will be retrofitted into the existing 1.5 million gallon clear wells used to store water before entering the distribution system. Currently, the contractor has drained one clear well and is preparing to construct 3-feet thick concrete structures to house UV equipment and a 60-inch water conduit . The project will also install new technologies to update the 20-year-old ozone system. More efficient equipment and a liquid oxygen system will replace a complex and energy-intensive process that creates ozone out of ordinary air. Link to invitation: http://www.pwd.org/pdf/invitationweb.pdf # # # |
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