Surface Water Treatment Plant Improvements

The Bistone Municipal Water Supply District (Bistone) owns and operates two water treatment plants that treat both surface and groundwater. Bistone attained a Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) loan and used those monies to complete several improvements at the surface water treatment plant located on Lake Mexia. All surface water treatment facilities must adhere to a specific set of rules according to their size and functionality. The Bistone facility must comply with the Long Term 2 Enhanced (LT2) surface water treatment rule, which requires public water systems to test their water sources for specific contaminates. When Lake Mexia was tested, contaminates were found. Bistone proactively chose to install an ultraviolet light treatment to inactivate the contaminate, and make the treated water safe to drink.
 
KSA’s civil engineering team was engaged to design the recommended improvements. During design, the project team had to bear in mind the importance of proper project sequencing during construction. At certain points during construction, particularly during the start-up of the ultraviolet reactors, the plant was producing non-potable water, not suitable for consumption. Because of this, the project team worked with Bistone to obtain a discharge permit and develop a standard operating procedure that would allow water to be discarded whenever necessary. Because Bistone has two treatment facilities, this one was able to be taken offline as needed during construction, allowing the other to provide continued service to Bristone’s retail and wholesale customers.

The flow of water in a surface water treatment plant can have a significant impact on the quality of the treated water. In the Bistone plant, raw lake water was pumped into its head and flowed by gravity through each treatment process. Due to this set-up, the piping was buried well below ground, which negatively affected the ultraviolet reactors that were controlled by the sub grade flow lines. To remedy this, the design team constructed a new building with a basement approximately eight feet below ground. The ultraviolet reactors were installed in the new structure and performed as intended.
 
KSA maintains a great working relationship with Bistone and serves as an extension of their staff. We are committed to helping them provide a safe and dependable supply of drinking water at all times and have done so for several years.