RO Plant Update: Iron Filters Installed, but Activation Delayed

The transition from sand filtration to new Amiad machines in the under-construction Western Springs water-treatment plant is half complete, with the new system installed but currently unable to be turned on or used until a new electrical transformer is put in place.

In the completed , the Amiad iron filters will be the first line of treatment for the Village’s well water, clearing out any impurities over about two microns that might otherwise damage the cartridge filters (stage two) or reverse-osmosis equipment (stage three,) which will be installed later.

But because of the unique challenges of rebuilding an in-use plant, said Village Municipal Services Director Matt Supert, much of the bulk of the plant reconstruction cannot take place until the new filters are online (and thus the old ones—the two remaining sand filters—can be destroyed.)

“One thing we need to keep in mind when we’re doing the construction is that we still have to provide water to the village during construction,” Supert said. “The work is kind of painstaking because we have to do certain rooms in a certain order.”

The Board of Trustees has been working to sort out an issue with the new transformer required to power the new plant (“Simply put, the new system requires a lot more energy than the old system,” Supert explained.) and avoid having a 55-gallon drum transformer placed high up on a pole. At their March 2012 meeting, the Board and installation of a ground-mounted transformer.

In the meantime, some construction on the plant is continuing. Concrete flooring is being poured where the removed sand filters used to be, and new masonry walls, electrical wiring and windows are being installed.

The water received by Village residents continues to be unsoftened, a status that will remain even when the iron filters are active and until the reverse-osmosis equipment is up and running. Transition from sand filters to Amiad filters will have little to no immediate change on the Village’s water quality.

The exterior of the building is not slated for much of a change, although the roof is being replaced.

Reverse-osmosis equipment was scheduled to be active near the end of the 2012 calendar year, with another two or three months after that to complete all construction. Supert said the transformer issue may or may not offset that.

“Because of the transformer issue, there might be a mild delay, but we don’t know yet,” Supert said. “We don’t yet know if there will be a long-term delay on the project or not.”