Water Treatment Facility UV Disinfection Design
Poughkeepsies’ Joint Water Project Board owns and operates the Poughkeepsies’ Joint Water Treatment Facility (PJWTF). The PJWTF was designed in 1959 to treat up to 12 million gallons a day (MGD), which was increased to 19.3 MGD following the completion of the most recent upgrades. The PJWTF consists of a conventional filtration plant that utilizes the Hudson River as source water. The facility includes raw water pumps, chemical addition, upflow clarifiers followed by sedimentation basins, an intermediate pump station, ozone contactors, biologically active filtration (BAF), ultraviolet (UV) disinfection, and high lift pumps.
The UV disinfection system was installed in 2004 and was one of the first in New York as well as in the United States. Because the UV reactors were approaching the end of their useful life, Tighe & Bond completed an evaluation of the UV system that included a review of current disinfection technologies, a determination of the potential for ozone as a primary disinfectant, and recommendations for UV system replacement.
The evaluation determined that the replacement of the six individual filter effluent disinfection units was the most economical and feasible approach for the plant. The UV system replacement design included considerations for maintaining plant capacity during construction, and also included HVAC improvements to the filter pipe gallery and the design of a new, compact dedicated UPS building on the space-limited site.
Services Snapshot
Tighe & Bond assisted with the design and grant funding for this project. When completed, the UV system will lead to a modernized disinfection system which will provide clean drinking water to the region for years to come.
