A mixer, moving more than a million gallons of water non-stop, has been added to the Locust Shade Water Tank in Prince William.
According to the Service Authority, the mixer has been added to the water tank as a way to maintain a healthy level of disinfection.Â
More from a Service Authority release:
Each spring, the Service Authority switches to the use of free chlorine as a disinfectant while it flushes and cleans out the water distribution system. For the rest of the year, chloramines are used to disinfect drinking water. Chloramines are a combination of chlorine and ammonia and are much less harsh on the water infrastructure than free chlorine.
When water is not moving inside a tank, the chlorine in the water can begin to slowly dissipate and the ammonia will start to nitrify, which can compromise water quality. This can happen particularly inside tanks that experience lower usage demands or in those located near the end of the distribution system where the water’s journey from the treatment plant is the longest
Before the mixer was installed at Locust Shade, the tank was being served by the Service Authority’s re-chlorination trailer in order to maintain the quality of the water. Unveiled two years ago, the custom-built mobile unit adds chloramines to water in tanks challenged with this issue.
Installing the mixing device is a far more cost-effective method of ensuring better water quality than continually deploying the trailer, which requires the ongoing purchase of chloramines, said Technical Support Manager Robert Jenkins. The mixer at Locust Shade will likely be used on a permanent basis, said Jenkins.
Two years ago, the Service Authority installed a mixer at the Battery Heights tank, a Dumfries-area water tower that was experiencing  the same issue as Locust Shade. These issues have since been remedied thanks to the mixer. Eventually, Jenkins would like to see another installed in the Dominion Valley tank, the northernmost tower in the distribution system.
“The Service Authority prides itself on using innovative tools to maintain the health and safety of all our customers,” Jenkins said. “The mixers at Locust Shade and Battery Heights are excellent examples of our ongoing commitment to providing first class drinking water to the folks living in southern Prince William County.”
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