Features Environment Water Issues
Walkerton centre expands pilot testing services

Walkerton, Ont. – Ontario’s Walkerton Clean Water Centre has added a new pilot-scale water treatment technology to its Technology Demonstration Facility.

The fluidized bed ion exchange is specifically designed to remove organics to control disinfection byproducts, the centre said in a news release. Organic reduction is one of the top requests for pilot testing from drinking water systems. This new equipment will allow the Walkerton Clean Water Centre (WCWC) to increase its capacity for pilot testing.

Pilot testing provides relevant and customized information to enhance the understanding of source water, treatment processes and alternative treatment options. Through bench and pilot-scale testing, the centre can support drinking water systems by comparing several treatment options.

The centre is currently working on a number of pilot testing projects. These projects are focused on controlling organics and disinfection byproducts, iron and manganese, inorganics and coagulation optimization. A detailed report of the results is shared with the client and a summary report is added to WCWC’s Drinking Water Resource Library, which is a free online portal that assists operators in finding information on various drinking water topics.

Each pilot testing project has been very successful and has helped communities optimize their drinking water, the release said.

Along with the fluidized bed ion exchange, other WCWC pilot-scale water treatment equipment can be tested using a community’s raw water either at WCWC or installed at a community’s water treatment plant. The centre’s pilot-scale treatment equipment includes conventional treatment, dissolved air flotation, ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, slow sand filtration, ozone and advanced oxidation processes, greensand filters, cartridge filters and ultraviolet light disinfection.

To learn more, contact Souleymane Ndiongue, Manager of Research & Technology, at sndiongue@wcwc.ca or 1-866-515-0550 ext. 308, or Devendra Borikar,
Lead, Technology Demonstration, at dborikar@wcwc.ca or 1-866-515-0550 ext. 313.