GE UF Membranes to Help Protect Water Quality of Major Reservoir
GE Water & Process Technologies, a unit of General Electric Company has been selected to supply its advanced ZeeWeed membranes for a 30-MGD (average daily flow) tertiary ultrafiltration upgrade of the 110-MGD Clark County Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) in Nevada. The facility, which treats wastewater for approximately 960,000 people in the Las Vegas Valley, will use the ZeeWeed membranes, in combination with a new ozone treatment system, to help protect water quality in Lake Mead and the downstream portion of the Colorado River, the primary water sources for Las Vegas and for millions of people in Southern California and Arizona.
Advanced treatment technologies such as ZeeWeed membranes, are an integral part of Clark County's proactive approach to achieving increasingly stringent effluent discharge requirements. Robust ZeeWeed membranes will significantly reduce total suspended solids, total phosphorus, and pathogenic bacteria in treated effluent, Through the use of ozonation, treated effluent will also contain fewer endocrine disrupting compounds, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products. The project enables Clark County to demonstrate, evaluate and optimize the performance and operation of membrane and ozonation technologies for potential full-scale developments in the future.
"The U.S. southwest, like many parts of the world, is facing immense pressure to ensure that growing communities will have reliable, high-quality water supplies to meet current and future demand," said Jeff Garwood, president and CEO, GE Water & Process Technologies. "GE's ZeeWeed membranes are providing a solution-making it possible for communities such as Clark County to create new, drought-proof supplies of high quality water that meets stringent regulations and can replace the use of potable water for irrigation and industrial needs."
In recent years, as many as 5,000 new residents per month have moved to the Las Vegas area, placing a significant strain on the Clark County WRF to continuously meet stringent discharge requirements. For example, effluent discharge limits for phosphorus are set at only 170 pounds per day, a target that cannot be exceeded even though the plant is constantly experiencing increasing wastewater flows. As the County's population continues to climb and greater volumes of >wastewater are treated, advanced treatment technologies such as ZeeWeed offer a proven, cost-effective means to achieve regulatory compliance and protection of critical drinking water sources.
Once completed in late 2009, the Clark County WRF, designed by Broomfield-Colorado based MWH, will be North America's second largest ZeeWeed tertiary ultrafiltration plant. The 50-MGD F. Wayne Hill WRF in Gwinnett County Georgia is currently the largest in North America, and also uses a ZeeWeed tertiary ultrafiltration system to protect drinking water quality for much of Northern Georgia. High quality treated effluent from the F. Wayne Hill plant is discharged into Lake Lanier and the Chattahoochee River, major water sources for the region.