300% filter runtime increase in municipal reservoir

Eco-friendly algae control

The City of Archie has improved the water quality in its municipal water reservoir by applying LG Sonic technology. In four weeks, the reservoir had become algae-free. Meanwhile, within a year, the filter runtime was increased by 300%.

Days after winter used to be heartbreaking—the hope of having clear and clean water crushed by the harmful algal blooms (HABs). Once the ice melted, the water went from clear up top to extremely cloudy within two weeks. Nothing could be seen within a foot into the water.

Harmful algae blooms

Harmful algae blooms are a growing environmental concern. Algal blooms are often caused by fertilizer runoff, containing nutrients such as phosphate and nitrogen. These nutrients enter an aquatic ecosystem and fuel algae growth. These blooms can cause serious illnesses in humans, animals, and fish, degrade water quality, and result in foul taste and smell.

A couple of chemical treatments to control HABs were tested,  but the reservoir’s pollutant levels had risen as a result. Furthermore, the treatment plant’s design forbade the use of other chemicals, such as oxidation. This condition led the City of Archie to install LG Sonic MPC-Buoy as a chemical-free algae control solution.

Improved water quality

When algae grew extensively, turbidity levels in the water plant’s primary settling basin reached 1.2 NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity Unit). After installing MPC-Buoy, the algae density lessened within a month.

The turbidity level positively affected both the influent and effluent. The influent turbidity enjoyed a 65,3% reduction to 0.3 – 0.4 NTU while the effluent turbidity decreased by 53.3% to 0.05 – 0.09 NTU.

As the turbidity level improved, the filter run times increased by 300%, and the backwash water volume over three days was minimized by 66,7%. The approach has improved the efficiency of the treatment plant operations.

Environmental compliance

Rick Blundell, Water Superintendent for the City of Archie, said that LG Sonic technology achieved something that could not be done in four decades; compliance with government regulations.

The result also elicits public amazement at the clean and clear conditions of a reservoir traditionally full of algae in the middle of the summer. For the first time, they can clearly see anywhere between 3 and 5 feet through the water. Thus, this success makes all stakeholders satisfied with LG Sonic technology.

“Because of this technology, we’re finally going to be able to do something that hasn’t been done in 40 years and that is to get these DPBS (disinfection byproducts) under such control that the state has been wondering if I’m cheating on my lab tests, which we are not […] and it seems like finally, Missouri DNR (Dept. of Natural Resources) is happy with the City of Archie, so I’m kind of excited”

Rick Blundell, Water Superintendent