Recently enacted arsenic compliance standards have forced cities large and small to comply with a maximum contaminant level of 10 parts per billion (ppb) or face stiff fines and even the potential shutdown of wells. Smaller towns such as Cannonville, UT, have the most difficulty meeting those standards because of manpower and budget constraints.
To help meet the standard, Cannonville turned to Filtronics Inc. of Anaheim, CA, and its proprietary arsenic removal process.
Filtronics provides systems that can process up to 29 mgd, but it was one of the company’s more compact FV series vertical filters - equipped with Electromedia® I - that helped Cannonville and its population of just 200 people. Located near Bryce Canyon National Park, Cannonville is a small community with an understandably small public-service budget.
“We looked at some other ways to remove arsenic,” said Mayor Al Fletcher, “but disposal was costly.”
The city found that the initial cost of the Filtronics plant was competitive with other systems on the market, but because the company’s filter media is permanent, operation and maintenance costs are lower than that of many other arsenic removal methods. Some filter systems, for example, are expensive to run: the media itself is costly, and when exhausted, must be replaced. And if the used media - contaminated with a high concentration of arsenic - isn’t handled properly, it is considered hazardous waste.
There are no such worries with Filtronics Electromedia® I.