Terranova, Virginia
A Virginia Water Authority had a well system containing Radium. Drought conditions exacerbated the water quality and Radium levels began to rise. The Authority took the well off line and out of service and called Water Membranes to examine the application and suggest a solution.
Water Membranes wrote a preliminary report reviewing the four options used for Radium removal. The report noted the site had no access to the sewer system to deal with backwash.
One of the options, the Modular Packaged Ion Exchange system is a single-pass system. The Radium is captured onto the resin and accumulates within the vessel. The system is designed as a series of lead/lag vessels. The lead vessel removes the radium and as the system ages, radium will saturate the resin in the vessel. Reaching the saturation threshold, the lead vessel is removed and replaced with a new vessel. The existing vessels are moved into the lead position and the new vessels are placed in the lag position.
The spent media within the vessels is classified as Technically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (TENORM). Upon reaching the saturation threshold (as determined by regular sampling), the vessels containing the spent resin are removed and replaced as described above. The old vessel is capped and shipped to the proper hazardous waste landfill site. Water Membranes Systems, LLC coordinates this service with its supply of replacement vessels.
The system was designed, submitted for Health Department approval, built and installed and operating in 3-months from the beginning of the project to its end.
The system has been online for 5-years. The preliminary report estimated resin saturation occurring every 18-months. Presently due to system use the actual replacement schedule is every 2.5 years.
