Radium Removal in Seneca, Illinois

by Gary Warner

Tonka Equipment Company

It’s a fact that contaminants exist, but there are some places where they cannot be allowed.

Water is one of them.

Naturally occurring radium, hydrogen sulfide, and iron kept reappearing in well two and three of Seneca, Illinois. With the leadership of Seneca's water operator, Paul Rivett and the engineer, Chamlin and Associates, the village renovated the existing facility, bringing contaminant levels greatly below EPA standards. 

The equipment for the project included three vertical pressure filters, one Forced Draft Aerator, a Detention Chamber and an HMO Chemical Feed System. Because of the renovations, the village's water system can safely be taken off the watch list for radium. The plant’s new HMO System utilizing a pre-mixed solution guarantees to remove the radium. As for the hydrogen sulfide in well two and the iron in well three, the new system also removes them. The turbulence and airflow from the tower pushes the hydrogen sulfide out into the atmosphere while simultaneously oxidizing the iron to an insoluble ferric hydroxide state that forms a floc, allowing it to be filtered. 

With their new hydrous manganese oxide (HMO) radium removal plant, the Village of Seneca won’t have to worry anymore about water contaminants. Everyone involved with the plant made sure of it!     

Read the WSO article here:  Right At Home | Water System Operator

Make Backwash More Effective

by Rick Boyum
Tonka Equipment Company

Improve your overall filter performance and help reduce backwash frequency by optimizing every backwash.

Increased backwash frequency is recommended for:

• Excessive headloss (debris buildup in media)
• Diminished effluent water quality

About once a month:

• Gather a sample of backwash water halfway through Simul-Wash™ or a backwash.

Congressman Visits Arsenic Removal Plant

by Rick Mann
Tonka Equipment Company

Congressman Fred Upton visited the new Iron and Arsenic Removal system serving the community of Mattawan, Michigan. Before the new system was installed, arsenic levels in the town’s three wells exceeded EPA’s requirements of 10 parts per billion (ppb).

Looking into all their options, they determined investing in a new treatment system was their only option. The arsenic was removed with iron co-precipitation absorption followed by filtration with Greensand Plus Media. Equipment  installation included four vertical pressure filters (VPF) to treat both the well on 25^th street and  the well on Main Street. This plant now provides clean drinking water to the small rural community of 3,000.           

Click here for more:
MRWA spot on Rep Upton's visit

New Sugar Creek Water Plant

by Amanda Conley
Tonka Equipment Company

Sometimes an existing water facility will not always get the job done. In Boone County, Indiana, the Sugar Creek Water Plant’s two outdated filters were coming to an end in life. The plant needed a system that would remove the iron from their water as well as create an easier backwash process that did not waste water or power. Investing in new filters was an obvious solution.

The county chose to replace the existing facility with equipment for an iron removal plant. A new aerator and three, 10’ by 38’ Horizontal Pressure Filters (HPF) had been exactly what the county needed. In Lebanon’s local news, a reporter filmed the start of the HPF installation process when the crane horizontally inserted the filters. After all the coordination efforts and construction, controls were installed and Sugar Creek’s newly improved plant started up in March.

More about Lebanon's Plant Upgrade:

http://www.lebanon-utilities.com/w_projects.html

Germantown Complies with EPA Radium Regulations

by Todd Butz
Tonka Equipment Company

Germantown, Wisconsin has a small-town rural atmosphere, but its easy access to Milwaukee offers suburban amenities that attract many newcomers. The residential and business growth of the area has been steady, allowing this unique community to maintain its rural charm and distinct German heritage.


A major concern of the community was the need to remove radium from its potable water source and bring the water treatment plant into compliance with current USEPA regulations. After consultation with Ruekert-Mielke Engineering, the village chose the Hydrous Manganese Oxide (HMO) radium removal technology offered by Tonka Equipment Company.  HMO is a chemical that can be fed into the raw water that binds with radium. The HMO/radium particle can then be filtered through a conventional pressure or gravity filter.