Client
Town of Fleming
Location
Fleming, Saskatchewan
Year
2020
Project Summary
In the fall of 2020, our team was contacted by the Town of Fleming's water operator to help address issues addressing the community's drinking water. A statement released in August 2020, summarizes the extent of the issues the town is facing with regard to its drinking water.
“The Town of Fleming is experiencing challenging raw water conditions. Currently, there is inadequate disinfection of the treated water, as well as manganese levels higher than the Health Canada Drinking Water Quality Guidelines. The values of the disinfection by-products - total trihalomethanes and haloacteic acids - are also well above the Saskatchewan Drinking Water Quality Objectives. A decision to issue a Do Not Drink Advisory was made and issued to the community on Tuesday (8/25/2020) based on these compounding factors, which are unable to all be resolved by boiling the water. It is uncertain when raw water conditions will improve, but usually do so when cooler days occur and dissolved oxygen levels improve in the raw water reservoir.” [Source: Water Today]
Prior to our involvement, resources were allocated to address treating the water once it arrived at the treatment plant, despite the issue stemming from the water reservoir pond. Our team suggested treating the water at the source with aeration and NSF-60 drinking water certified algaecide to kill algae and increase oxygen levels.
An aeration team was sent to visit site in October 2020 and install a Can-Air Mega aeration system. Since the installation and frequent algaecide applications, the water quality has significantly improved, lifting the Do Not Drink Advisory and meeting all requirements for Water Security Agency of Saskatchewan for manganese and ozone testing.
Fleming Drinking Water Reservoir Aeration
Project Objective
Increase dissolved oxygen levels
Address high manganese concerns
Come up with a treatment plan for reducing/ preventing blue green algae
High microcystin concentrations reported (7.5µg/L)
Planned Solutions
As a manufacturer of our aeration equipment and drinking water-certified algaecide, we can work closely with clients' budgets to ensure we supply the best products and services within their budget. With an understanding of the severity of the situation, our sales and design team came up with a custom system and treatment regime that will help improve the water quality within the town's set budget.
Since our team was not contacted until early fall, we rushed to ensure the installation can take place as soon as possible. Our team was sent out in late October and arrived on site with ice-chipping equipment to allow for the deployment of a boat and diffusers.
Timeline
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Fall 2020
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System installation: October 2020
Challenges
Small budget
Tight project timeline
Ice had already formed on the reservoir prior to our install
Methods
Install 4 Can-Air Mega diffusers
Install 2 KM 120C 1/2HP compressors (total system HP= 1; total system CFM @ 10 PSI= 9.6 )
Install custom lengths of AquaTube airline
Calculate pond volume to determine safe and effective algaecide treatment rates
Apply algaecide with sprayer
Results
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The Town of Fleming's water quality has improved greatly, and is once again potable. Our client has stated that, "The aeration equipment works great has and not caused a single issue for us. There was a steady improvement in water turbidity in all our filters. Also, since the installation and treatments with the pond treatment we have met all our requirements for Water Security Agency of Saskatchewan for [Manganese] Mn and ozone testing. Fantastic job done by Pond Pro. They are highly knowledgeable and were on-site with the equipment when they said they would be. I would highly recommend [the] company to anyone"
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Microcystin concentration reduced from 7.5 µg/L to below drinking water standards 1.5 µg/L