treatment
In addition to doubling the capacity of the lift station by replacing the existing 7.5HP pumps with 15HP pumps, this project also addressed many deficiencies in the sludge collection, processing, and disposal operations.
First, the existing clarifier mechanism and effluent weir were replaced, and scum collection equipment was added to the existing final clarifier. Additionally, a new sludge processing building was constructed to house a new one-meter belt press and sludge cake conveyer. A sludge cake storage area was also built to allow the City to store the pressed sludge until it could be land applied in the Spring
and Fall.
The rural residents around North Sioux City and Elk Point South Dakota can find as much water as they want, just by sinking a well anywhere in the Missouri River Alluvial Valley. The problem is that the “good water” in this area, which is lower in iron and manganese, is laced with radium. Rural communities like Wynstone and Sandy Meade were faced with the challenge of Radium removal to protect their customers.
Clay Rural Water System partnered with these developments and the surrounding rural customers to bring Radium Free water to over 500 homes. These residents dealt with contaminated drinking water for decades, and now have confidence in the water they are drinking. DGR Engineering worked with Clay Rural Water System to construct a reverse osmosis water treatment plant to take water with raw water combined radium 226 + 228 of 12.4 pCi/L down to below detection limits of <1.0 pCi/L. These customers have been receiving this safe drinking water now for over a decade.
The plant treats the deep well water directly with reverse osmosis without pre-treatment, even though the raw water has high iron and manganese levels. This innovative treatment approach saved significant construction and operational costs for the water system.
The City of Estherville operates an iron and manganese removal and zeolite softening facility. The plant had adequate softening capacity for growth, but had exceeded the rapid sand filtration capacity of the facility. The expansion was rated at 1,200 gpm and included the following work:
Construction of a water treatment plant expansion of 1200 gpm capacity, including concrete gravity filter cells, masonry building, yard and process piping, line shaft turbine high service and backwash pumps, horizontal split case transfer pumps, HVAC, electrical and control, site work and miscellaneous appurtenant work.