Ceramic Membrane System Selected for New 8 MGD Drinking Water Plant

Ceramic Membrane System Selected for New MGD Drinking Water Plant Dave Holland, March 6, 2024, 9:15a EST Presentation Outline Project Background Technology Evaluation Technology Selection Project Implementation Project Background Inman, SC City of about 2,300 in Spartanburg County, SC Water provided by Inman-Campobello Water District (ICWD) ICWD purchases from Broad River Water Authority (BRWA) in NC River water is treated at the BRWA treatment plant Treated water pumped through Polk County, NC and into Spartanburg County Project Background Pipeline also provides water to the unincorporated portions of Polk County Water lines are maintained and serviced by the ICWD Contracted with BRWA for a max of 3. MGD Averaged about 3. MGD in 2020 Project Background Connection to MGD Spartanburg Water System (SWS) – if needed Wants to become water-independent Hired Black & Veatch (B&V) Engineers to compare new plant with current system Applied for and received permit to withdraw MGD from the N. Technology Evaluation – On-Site Piloting Coagulant and oxidant added to river water Clarifier to settle coagulated solids and oxidized Fe/Mn Technology Evaluation The pilot was performed in five phases: Technology Evaluation – Ceramic Pilot Filtrate Inside-to-outside Filtrate filtration collection channels Membrane Filtrate filtration channels (f2.5mm) Filtrate collection slits Raw water Raw water Technology Evaluation – Polymeric Pilot Advantage PVDF PES Stronger X More flexible X Can be cleaned with caustic X More chlorine-resistant X Less fouling tendency X Less trans-membrane pressure X Higher permeability X Solids are less likely to adhere to the membrane surfaces The membrane can be cleaned at a much higher pH Technology Evaluation – Granular Media Contained one column with only anthracite and one column with anthracite and sand Pre-treated water was fed by gravity through the two parallel units Manually backwashed when effluent turbidity reached 0. NTU or the head-loss increased to 6 feet Used a sequence of air wash, combined air/water wash, and water wash Sodium hypochlorite can be fed upstream of filters To oxidize dissolved manganese for removal Sand filtration is familiar technology with less reliance on a single vendor. Technology Evaluation – Phase TMPs In psi, normalized to 20°C, at the following fluxes: Polymeric membrane at 55 gfd (93 lmh) Ceramic membrane at 125 gfd (212 lmh) Technology Evaluation – Permeability Phase 5 permeabilities in gfd/psi, normalized to 20°C Technology Evaluation – Filtrate Turbidity Phase 5 filtrate turbidities, in NTU Technology Evaluation – Projected TMP Rise Projected time to reach CIP trigger setting (15 psi): Less than 5 months for polymeric More than a year for ceramic.