I had a very interesting tour in June of the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) water treatment system. Here’s a quick overview of the (massive) plant.
Water is pumped from Lake Lavon to be treated to make it safe to drink. Look how huge the pumping station pipes are!
The water leaves the pump station and heads to sediment tanks.
Iron sulfate is added in which reacts with the sediment, making it drop to the bottom as the lake water moves along. See how it changes from dirty brown lake water to a more clear blue?
Even though it looks better, the water still isn’t disinfected so it’s not safe for drinking yet!
Next stop: Primary disinfectant. Ozone. This kills nearly all the viruses and bad stuff in the water plus vastly improves the taste. We moved to Plano in pre-ozone treatment days. The difference the ozone makes in overall taste is amazing.
This is the original water plant building from when NTMWD opened in 1956. At the very beginning they could treat 20 million gallons of water per day and only served 32,000 people in 10 member cities.
This team monitors the system. Note the modern computer-driven system vs the way older system just behind the monitors. The new stuff has been set in front of the old – repurposing the room as technology changes.
You can take a tour anytime, through this link to the NTMWD’s virtual tour.