Mr. Marc Blanchet reports

H2O INNOVATION COMPLETES ITS LARGEST INTEGRATED UF-NF PROJECT TO DATE

H2O Innovation Inc. has completed the commissioning of one of its largest drinking water projects to date, which was designed for the city of Delaware in Ohio, and provides continuous support to the city with its proprietary remote monitoring solution SPMC (System Performance Monitoring Center). The city also selected the green chemistry of Professional Water Technologies to operate the plant.

The water treatment system, designed by H2O Innovation in collaboration with AECOM Technology Corp. (Columbus, Ohio) for the city, produces seven million galls per day (26,498 cubic metres per day) of drinking water. The system comprises three ultrafiltration trains and five nanofiltration trains treating water from two different raw water supply sources.

Dual water sources, dual treatment scheme

In order to provide its customers with sufficient potable water, the city pumps water from the Olentangy River but also from groundwater wells. To treat the river water, an existing flocculation and sedimentation system provides pretreatment to three new UF trains followed by three new NF trains. The net capacity of the surface water treatment system is 4.5 million gallons per day (17,034 cubic metres per day). The groundwater source, which contains iron, manganese and hardness, requires a different treatment process that consists of greensand filtration followed by two new NF trains. The groundwater treatment system has a capacity of 2.5 million gallons per day (9,464 cubic metres per day). The treated surface water and groundwater streams are ultimately blended prior to pumping to the distribution system. By providing engineered process design for each raw water source, membrane fouling is minimized, while optimizing operation and maintenance costs.

System's status at a fingertip

H2O Innovation continues to support the city by providing monitoring and performance analysis in real time. Through its remote monitoring solution SPMC (System Performance Monitoring Center) developed in house, H2O Innovation's process engineers and service team are capable of assisting the operators in their daily tasks as they learn the ins and outs of this new UF-NF treatment system. The monitoring solution SPMC also enables the operators to have remote access to the HMI, to receive alarm notifications on their smart phones but more importantly, to get process recommendations such as the scheduling of the next membrane cleaning.

PWT chemicals selected by the city

While the clients are free to use the chemicals they want to maintain their system, H2O Innovation always proposes its complete line of speciality chemicals branded under the name Professional Water Technologies. After a careful evaluation, the city has decided to go ahead and procure PWT's specialty chemicals for membrane-scale inhibition and cleaning using the company's green chemistry -- phosphate-free anti-scalant.

A successful project all around

This project has been a success for both the city and H2O Innovation. "Through its experience in membrane system design, fabrication and commissioning, its monitoring solution SPMC and its PWT speciality chemicals, H2O Innovation shows its ability to provide safe and integrated water treatment solutions and outstanding customer care in order to secure long-term relationships," said Frederic Dugre, president and chief executive officer of H2O Innovation.

The design and construction phases were executed in accordance with the city's expectations and requirements and H2O Innovation was able to secure a long-term service agreement. Brad Stanton, public utilities director at the city, commented, "H2O Innovation was truly a great company to work with, they delivered a system of high quality and we are really pleased with the results." The city's satisfaction confirms H2O Innovation's position as a membrane filtration expert and solidifies its leading position on the municipal market of medium-sized water treatment projects.