USFilter's CMF-S system at the Sandhurst treatment facility
in Coliban, Australia.
In March, 2002, USFilter received a contract to provide
the largest microfiltration plant in the world for
the Orange County Water District (OCWD) and the
Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD) in Fountain
Valley, California. The $25 million Memcor® continuous
microfiltration submerged (CMF-S) system will be a
crucial part of an advanced water reclamation project.
Located in an arid region where water resources are precious,
the OCWD currently purchases imported water from
the Colorado River and the State Water Project. The high
costs associated with imported water, combined with an increasing
population that is expected to reach 2.8 million by
2020, drove the OCWD to consider a more reliable, costeffective
water treatment system. The microfiltration system
will allow the district to effectively manage its water
resources with little or no increase in cost. In addition, it
can employ a new water source that is completely independent
of the imported water. High-quality, dependable water will be processed with half the energy that it takes to import
the water. This is a big energy savings for California.
In 1997, the water and sanitation districts of Orange
County formed the Groundwater Replenishment (GWR) System,
a joint project specifically created to purify highly
treated secondary wastewater currently released into the
ocean. The GWR System will process the wastewater
through an intricate membrane treatment plant to be constructed
on the Fountain Valley water campus, occupied by
both Orange County's water district and sewer district. The
treatment plant will include the CMF-S microfiltration unit,
reverse osmosis system, and ultraviolet disinfection equipment,
as well as supplementary pumping, power and chemical
facilities.
USFilter's CMF-S system will purify the water to levels
that surpass drinking water standards; it will then be injected
into the local groundwater basin to prevent seawater intrusion.
The remaining water not directly injected into the basin
will be introduced into a groundwater aquifer through
the district's Santa Ana River percolation basins, located in
the cities of Anaheim and Orange.
In the Fall of 2002, USFilter will begin its first stage of
construction of a temporary CMF-S system that will process
(US) 6.7-mgd. This system will be incorporated into a
(US) 80-mgd permanent system that will produce a total of
(US) 86.7-mgd of microfiltered water, enough water to fill
over 1000 Olympic size swimming pools every day. Currently,
the OCWD employs an existing 8-mgd lime clarification
system that serves as pretreatment to a reverse osmosis
unit. The (US) 6.7-mgd CMF-S unit will replace this
existing system.
See our home page on how to order your subscription. We regret we can
only accept orders from Canada and the United States.
