Dissolved Air Flotation Project

Over the last several years the Union Water Supply System (UWSS) has undertaken several evaluations and capital works to improve the Ruthven Water Treatment Plant.  As part of the UWSS Water Quality Master Plan (WQMP) completed by Associated Engineering (AE) in 2016, the existing up-flow pre-treatment and clarification process was identified as a bottleneck at the Ruthven WTP.  The feasibility analysis and risk evaluation completed as part of the WQMP identified Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) as the preferred clarification alternative for the Ruthven Water Treatment Plant.  In 2017 a pilot study was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of dissolved air flotation (DAF) as a clarification alternative.  The pilot study was a success and identified DAF as an ideal clarification process for the Ruthven Water Treatment Plant.  The UWSS Joint Board of Management approved the project in July 2021 and the construction contract was awarded to Maple Reinders.  Construction started immediately in August 2021 on retrofitting Clarifier #2 at the WTP.  This work is scheduled to be completed in Spring of 2022

This $9+ million dollar investment into the Ruthven WTP will allow for improvements in the areas of the clarification process that will help address existing treatment issues associated with source water turbidity events (e.g. murky water) due to storms, drastic daily fluctuations in water demand and reoccurring Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) in Lake Erie.

We will continue to post updates on this project as they become available. 

(photos courtesy of Associated Engineering)