MWRD: O'Brien WRP Adds Disinfection

MWRD posted

I wonder if this was the construction at the O'Brien Water Reclamation Plant that caused the "L" embankment to cave in and stop service on the CTA Yellow Line for almost a half-year.

Upon completion, the UV disinfection system is now the largest water treatment UV installation in the world, having the potential to treat 450 million gallons of water per day, using 896 lamps that provide a low pressure, high output performance....Between last year’s disinfection upgrades implemented at Calumet WRP, the MWRD now has a system in place that will dramatically improve the quality of water throughout the Chicago Area Waterway System, while protecting the region’s drinking water supply in Lake Michigan. (MWRD posting)

Tribune article. If it dramatically improves the quality of water, then why did they keep telling the EPA for so long that it is not needed? And does their largest plant, Stickney, have this treatment yet? I noticed it was conspicuously missing when they mentioned the Calumet plant. The answer is no.

Update: when I toured the Stickney plant, I learned the bacteria die within three miles anyhow. Since they dump their effluent into an industrial canal that has very little recreational (canoe and kayak) traffic, there are no plans to disinfect its output.

Receives American Council of Engineering Companies Illinois Chapter award

Chicago Tribune March 21, 2016, has an article that starts on the front page and uses all of page 4 describing the addition of the ultraviolet treatment. The article includes five pictures.

Eric Allix Rogers posted
UV treatment at the O'Brien Water Reclamation Plant

BBC videoing the UV plant in terms of the possibility of alien life on any of the seven earh-like planets of the TRAPPIST-1 star. That star gives off enormous amounts of UV light. See MWRD for a longer explanation.

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