Illinois Iron and Manganese Removal Project
Project: Iron and manganese removal
Municipality: City of Belvidere, IL
The 4-cell horizontal filter vessel (10′ in diameter and 34′ long)
Engineer: Strand Associates
WaterSurplus Contact: Steven Johnson, VP of Engineering
Problem: A new well was drilled in the city of Belvidere, Illinois. It was expected to have a 2,000 GPM capacity, but iron and manganese were present. Manganese levels of .15 mg/L were of particular concern. The engineer, Strand Associates, was familiar with the use of catalytic pyrolusite filter media to design a high rate filter plant for iron and manganese removal. If traditional treatment using a potassium permanganate feed was implemented, a 60,000-gallon detention basin and two 10′ diameter by 36′ long horizontal vessels would have been required.
Our Solution: The system was designed using one of WaterSurplus’s proprietary catalytic filter media, OxiPlus75, with a targeted surface loading rate of 6.25 mg/L. Chlorine gas was fed upstream of the catalytic filter system and manganese was oxidized and filtered efficiently without a potassium permanganate feed or detention basin. The final design consisted of one (1) horizontal filter, 10′ diameter by 34′ long, containing four cells. The system was designed with an air scour step to help with cleaning during backwash. Since, 2015, the raw iron content has climbed to over 2 mg/L but the system is still treating iron to less than 0.1 mg/L and manganese to less than 0.02 mg/L. Learn more about piloting OxiPlus75 here.
