Applying First of its Kind Industrial Ion Exchange Process Brings Municipal Potable Water Treatment Facility into Regulatory Compliance

The City of Bunnell, Florida, had the clear need to implement a solution to address both TOC and hardness issues, which led to a consent order, customer complaints, and degradation of municipal water distribution infrastructure as well as household piping and appliances. Subsequent to detailed pilot testing performed using two different manufacturers, the system was recommended, and detailed design and construction for the new facility were performed. The result is a first-of-its-kind, single vessel, “co-removal” ion exchange process with a capacity of 0.999 mgd. Final clearance was obtained by the FDEP and the facility was placed into operation in October 2015. The facility has been in stable operations since this time and the City continues to meet all primary drinking water regulations, color has been reduced to less than 15 C.U. and the average finished water hardness has been reduced to less than 175 mg/L (as CaCO3). To learn more, see both the paper and the PowerPoint that were presented at the 2016 International Water Conference.