New Jacksonville water treatment plant soon to be up and running [The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C.]

July 17--Using 21st Century technology, the new $50 million Jacksonville water treatment plant will blend water from two sources to provide potable water to city residents.

The plant -- mandated by the state to reduce the city's dependence on one aquifer -- will be brought online in the next two months, city officials said.

The treatment plant, new wells and required piping have been under construction for almost two years on New Frontier Way. For the last few months while the plant was completed but not operating, city utility crews have been undergoing special training in how to operate the high pressure system. Nanofiltration engineers from the company that designed the plant have been on hand to offer training and workers have been versed in applicable state laws, said Ray Holder, the city's utilities plants superintendent.

"I feel confident that we can operate this plant and provide the citizens of Jacksonville with a high quality water product," he said.

The city has been using water from the Cretaceous aquifer for decades. That aquifer, or underground river, is a grouping of several of the oldest and deepest aquifers in the state. The Cretaceous is the primary source of water for the western half of the coastal plain. Water from the Cretaceous is generally soft and only slightly alkaline, requiring no treatment for most uses, according to information from the N.C. Cooperative Extension.

The state's Division of Water Quality ordered Jacksonville to begin drawing water from the Castle Hayne aquifer, a smaller, closer source. The city built the treatment plant because water coming from Castle Hayne has an odor and suspended organic particles.

Despite its water's odor, the Castle Hayne aquifer is the most productive aquifer in the state, according to the DWQ.

Jacksonville's new plant will take the water from Castle Hayne and push it through membrane filters at high pressure in a process called nanofiltration. The process removes the particles and eliminates the odor.

"What's left is nearly pure water," Holder said. "Nanofiltration removes iron and any inorganic, (and) it does an exceptional job at removing organics."

He said he believes customers won't be able to tell the difference in the newly treated water from a shallow aquifer and the untreated water from a deep aquifer that they have been drinking for 40 years.

During July and August, specially trained city water plant operators will bring on the new plant and mix the new water from Castle Hayne with the water from the Cretaceous source, said Glenn Hargett, a city spokesman.

"There could be some differences of taste as a result of the mix of water sources," he said.

To minimize any differences, city crews will be working to equalize the system when the plant is fully operational, but because treated water is being inserted into the city water system from a different place, city water customers could experience changes and differences in water pressure, Hargett said.

Any city water customer experiencing changes in their water's odor, color or pressure should call Jacksonville City Hall at 910-938-5234.

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