플로리다주의 클리어워터(Clearwater) 지역의 수처리 플랜트에 최근 새로운 염수 역삼투방식이 도입되었다. 이는 플로리다주의 대규모 역삼투 시스템에서 활용했던 기존의 오존을 사용한 H2S 처리 방식에서 두 번째로 도입된 방식이다.

새로운 수처리방식에 앞서 클리어워터는 플로리다 대수층에서 물을 사용하며, 자역의 물공급 업체에서 대량으로 제품을 구매했다. 물에 소요되는 비용을 관리하는 노력으로, 환경을 보호하고 수자원을 절약하는 도시의 통합 물관리 전략(Water Management Strategy)을 향상을 구현할 방침이다.

The city of Clearwater, Fla., recently completed its new brackish reverse osmosis (RO) water treatment plant (WTP) No. 2, which serves as the first large-scale RO municipal system in the state of Florida to use ozone to treat H2S in RO permeate.

Prior to the new WTP, Clearwater used water from the Florida Aquifer and purchased it in bulk from a regional water supplier. In an effort to manage the cost of water, protect the environment and conserve water resources, the city implemented an Integrated Water Management Strategy. One of the key priorities was to begin making improvements to and expanding its existing potable water system, including the upgrade of the existing WTP with a 6.25-million-gallons-per-day (MGD) brackish water RO plant.

Reiss Engineering, a civil and environmental engineering firm, completed the design and permitting for the facility, and Poole & Kent Contractors, a mechanical contractor for the eastern Mid-Atlantic region, completed its construction. Working together with the Clearwater, Reiss was able to incorporate state-of-the-art sustainability practices and design elements into the plant's early stages of design to increase its efficiency, reduce adverse impacts to the environment, and provide long-term cost-saving benefit to the city.

Some of the sustainable design elements included "Florida-Friendly" landscaping and efficient irrigation, efficient pumping fixtures, subaqueous pipeline crossings to avoid wetland or environmental impacts, a cool roof, community connectivity, an energy-efficient HVAC system, and insulated walls and roof, to name a few.

The new $30-million WTP was funded in part by the South West Florida Water Management District. It can produce 6.25 MGD of water a day that meets or exceeds state and federal standards and will serve 100,000 customers throughout the city. Most recently, the WTP was awarded the 2015 Public Works Project of the Year Award from the Florida Chapter of the American Public Works Association. The grand opening of the facility took place on Thursday, June 4.

[출처 = Water World / 2015년 7월 6일]