United Water Toms River (UWTR) through its water sampling program had identified the need for the addition of radium and gross alpha treatment for its Berkeley Station Wells. This decision is based upon levels of radium 226 and 228 and gross alpha near the Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs). The elevated levels of gross alpha and radium are due to naturally occurring radium in the soils and are common in this area.
Buck, Seifert & Jost, Inc. (BS&J) assisted UWTR in the planning, preliminary design, permitting, final design, and construction services for a radium and gross alpha removal system on a site leased from the Holiday City South Homeowners Association. The treatment system removes radium in the treated wells to below the combined radium and gross alpha limits.
The core of the treatment system uses a conventional ion exchange process. Raw water gets filtered by three parallel bag filters to take out particulates. Water flows from top to bottom through the ion exchange vessels where radium ions are exchanged by the resin. Lime will then be added to the water for pH control, corrosion inhibitor to protect the distribution piping system, sodium hypochlorite for disinfection and to maintain chlorine residual in the distribution system. When the ion exchange resin becomes loaded to a predetermined point the regeneration cycle begins. The regeneration cycle uses the brine solution to release the radium from the resin bed into the recycle tank and regeneration waste tank. The water from the recycle tank containing little to no radium will ultimately be sent back to the head of the plant. The wastewater from the regeneration waste tank is then treated by the two RSC resin vessels which will absorb the radium prior to discharge into the sanitary sewer system.
The treatment system is housed in an approximate 60 foot by 80 foot aesthetically pleasing building which blends in with the surrounding residential community of homes. A new 20 inch diameter pipeline, approximately 4,000 feet long, carries raw water from existing wells to the new treatment facility. A 64 inch diameter pipeline approximately 200 feet long on the treatment plant site is necessary to comply with chlorine contact time and virus removal requirements of the NJDEP.