DENVER, Colo., November 28, 2001 — The city of Danville, Kentucky has approved an engineering study for the installation of a 10 MGD MIEX water treatment plant.
The award was announced by Matthew D. Rowland, president of Orica Watercare, Inc., developer of the MIEX DOC process for removal of dissolved organic carbon from water (DOC).
The engineering evaluation will be conducted by Commonwealth Technology, Inc. (CTI), a Tetra Tech company.
CTI was originally hired by the City of Danville in December 1999 to do an EPA compliance evaluation study for Danville's Coldiron Watkins Memorial water treatment plant. CTI studied several technology options to reduce formation of disinfection by-products, including on-site generated oxidants, improved application of potassium permanganate, carbon contactors, nano-filtration, enhanced coagulation, and the MIEX ion exchange process.
"Orica's MIEX process is very effective for removing low molecular weight dissolved organic carbon (DOC), which is a precursor to chlorinationm by-products," reported Elizabeth Hamm, Water Utility Specialist who conducted the EPA evaluation study. "The reduction in total organic carbon (TOC) prior to coagulation and disinfection greatly reduced the formation of chlorination by-products (trihalomethane and haloacetic acid) and reduced the coagulant demand by a factor of five," Hamm said.
Ted Croushorn, Water Treatment Supervisor for Danville, is also pleased with the MIEX process. "I like the idea that we are removing contaminants (TOC) without adding additional treatment chemicals to the water," he said. "We expect this to be one of the first USA installations of the MIEX" process," Rowland said. "We have been demonstrating the process for treatment plants across the country, and several pilot studies are now coming to completion, " he added.
The MIEX DOC process uses the high-capacity MIEX® (for Magnetic Ion Exchange) resin in a revolutionary system to remove DOC from drinking water. The process can cut the cost of DOC removal by as much as 50 percent and dramatically reduce downstream chemical sludge by as much as 80 percent, according to Orica.
The process differs significantly from conventional ion exchange processes because the overall ion exchange capacity is continuously maintained, resulting in a consistently high water quality with a controlled DOC level.
Rowland said evaluations similar to the Danville/CTI study have been conducted by St. Paul Regional Water Services (50 MGD); the Vass Water Treatment Plant in Moore County, North Carolina; and the Little Road Water Treatment Plant in Pasco County, Florida.
Other studies are continuing in Chesapeake, Virginia, Rowland added. Orica Watercare Inc. is a member of the Orica group of companies. The Orica group is the largest supplier of water treatment and industrial chemicals in Australia and New Zealand and is the world's largest supplier of commercial explosives.
