The City’s water supply consists of multiple groundwater wells, with varying levels of Radium-226, Radium-228 and Gross Alpha Particles. Besides primary drinking water standards violations, the existing groundwater also has high levels of iron, manganese, chloride and total dissolved solids (TDS) which also negatively affect aesthetics of the City’s drinking water. While the City’s Combined Radium and Gross Alpha Particle levels were only slightly above the state and federal maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 5.0 and 15.0 picoCuries per liter (pCi/L) respectively due to the blending of various wells in the City, during the recent historic drought, the City observed increasing finished water radionuclide levels with continuing noncompliance.

eHT provided project management, application assistance, pilot testing and design for the project funded through the Texas Department of Agriculture Community Development Block Grant Program and included evaluation of both non-regenerable ion exchange and hydrous manganese oxide (HMO) radionuclide reduction technologies, and repurposing of the City’s existing water treatment plant components, ultimately installing a new 150 gpm HMO based radionuclide reduction treatment system at the City’s water plant, as well as electrical and control improvements to provide automated treatment operations. The project addressed TCEQ violations for Combined Radium and Gross Alpha Particles and included the approach of a full-scale pilot testing approach to reduce overall implementation costs for the City.