• Compact on-site system helps maximize drinking water resources by bringing well back into service
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA, May 13, 2008 -- Basin Water Inc. announced that it has been awarded a new contract by the East Valley Water District of San Bernardino County, CA for simultaneous removal of both uranium and nitrate at the District's Well #40. Under the terms of the agreement, Basin Water will provide its patented ion exchange technology along with installation, commissioning, system start-up, training of District staff and residual management services.
The ability of the Basin Water system to efficiently and reliably treat the two contaminants within a small footprint will allow the District to bring an out-of-service well back online, rapidly adding to the District's drinking water supply using existing resources. The 10-year services agreement also gives the District a guarantee of system performance, cost and throughput volume.
According to Orlando Carreño, Vice President, West Region of Basin Water, the new contract highlights the company's focus on offering versatile drinking water solutions that enable customers to maximize existing resources.
"Efficient groundwater treatment is a crucial aspect of drinking water supply in many communities, particularly in this region. When groundwater contaminants interfere with that supply, water authorities often face difficult choices -- including taking existing wells out of service," Carreño said. "By providing reliable, flexible systems that are custom-designed to each site, offer low life-cycle costs and fit within a minimal footprint, Basin Water can help communities quickly increase supply by utilizing resources already in place, thereby avoiding costly infrastructure development," he added.
The new system represents the third technology+services agreement between Basin Water and the East Valley Water District, and the first for uranium removal. Designed to deliver a total of 2 million gallons a day (MGD) of quality drinking water to the District's customer base of approximately 65,000 people, the system is expected to begin installation in June 2008 and come online by summer's end. The District will perform operations once the facility is online; maintenance and residual handling services are to be provided by Basin Water.
New system to remove dual contaminants in a small space
Uranium is a radioactive metal that occurs naturally in groundwater due to leaching of the element from geological formations. Uranium levels vary widely from place to place due to differences in geological makeup and the combination of factors that contribute to its release into groundwater. Most drinking water sources have very low levels of uranium contaminants. However, naturally occurring uranium has been observed to accumulate to levels of concern in drinking water sources. The United States EPA has established a Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 30 picocuries per liter (pCi/L) for uranium in drinking water, and the state of California has set a standard of 20 pCi/L.
Nitrate is a substance widely found in the environment as a byproduct of fertilizers, septic systems and groundwater recharge, and thus migrates easily into drinking water supplies. The EPA has set the MCL for nitrate at 45 parts per million (ppm). It is estimated that approximately 8,200 groundwater wells nationally exceed the Federal MCL for nitrate.
Groundwater to be treated at East Valley Water District's Well #40 currently contains 50-60 ppm of nitrate and uranium levels of 25-30 pCi/l. Basin Water's new system will guarantee the District effluent levels below 35 ppm for nitrate and less than 15 pCi/l uranium. The facility will house two treatment trains for the separate contaminants, with nitrate removal occurring upstream of the uranium removal process. The entire installation will fit on a small concrete pad to be built on site by the District.
"We are pleased with the continued success of our relationship with Basin Water," Bob Martin, General Manager of East Valley Water District said. "Their high-efficiency, custom-designed treatment systems offer our community a quality solution for meeting drinking water needs by optimizing performance of existing wells," he concluded.
Basin Water Inc. is a provider of reliable, long-term process solutions, which includes designing, building and implementing systems for the treatment of contaminated groundwater, the treatment of wastewater, waste reduction and resource recovery.
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