Plant was Designed to Treat Volatile Organic Compounds and 1,4-Dioxane
The Plainview Water District
recently broke ground on a state-of-the-art treatment facility located at the
District’s headquarters. The upgrades to this existing treatment facility have
been specifically designed to remove volatile organic compounds (VOC) from up
to four million gallons of drinking water per day. This
facility has also been designed to incorporate an Advanced Oxidation Process
(AOP) system, which is needed to remove 1,4-dioxane. The District
anticipates the plant will be up and running mid 2020.
“This
is a big milestone for the Plainview Water District and the entire
Plainview-Old Bethpage community,” said Marc Laykind, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners.
“We work tirelessly to provide high-quality drinking water to our residents and
the construction of this facility will aide our mission for decades to come.”
With
more than $2.6 million received in grant funding for this VOC project, plus
additional reserve funds being used, the Plainview Water District has fast
tracked plans to build a $7.6 million Granular
Activated Carbon (GAC) filtration system. Soon after the GAC system is
installed, the District plans to begin the installation of an AOP system. The installation of this technology will allow
the District to optimize the use of two existing wells located at the site.
“Months
of planning to improve the resiliency of our water system have come to fruition,”
said Commissioner Andrew Bader. “The support from New York State and its
willingness to invest in our community is significant. We appreciate the
attention being paid to improving drinking water throughout Long Island.”
The GAC system is designed to remove VOCs that are being
detected in the groundwater at the plant’s two production wells. Several years
ago, routine water quality sampling detected an elevation of VOCs at one of the
two wells and the District immediately took it out of service. The new facility
will pump raw groundwater through four, 12-foot diameter GAC vessels that each hold
20,000 pounds of granular activated carbon to remove the target compounds. After
GAC treatment, the water is chlorinated for disinfection and adjusted for pH
prior to being delivered to residents’ taps. Use of GAC is also an integral part
of the process for removing 1,4-dioxane.
“The
Plainview Water District continues to be proactive in taking action against any
contaminant found in our sole-source aquifer,” said Commissioner Amanda Field.
“We hope our residents take comfort in knowing that the Plainview Water
District is not only implementing the most sophisticated treatment technology,
but we are working tirelessly to ensure grant funding is in place so POB
residents bear as little of the cost as possible.”
For further information, or if
you have any questions, please call the District at 516-931-6469, email info@plainviewwater.org or visit www.plainviewwater.org. To receive
regular updates from the Plainview Water District, please sign up for email
updates on the District’s homepage. Don’t forget to stay connected to the
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