A temporary water treatment solution can be necessary if testing reveals toxins in the groundwater at a construction or infrastructure repair site.
With a little luck and a reliable partner, the ideal treatment technologies can be found, installed, and used with the least amount of downtime. Right, then that should be the end of the issue.
Maybe sometimes, but not usually. Unfortunately, even when a treatment method has been devised, the composition of groundwater might vary and new contaminants can be found.
This may lead to additional delay and unforeseen costs, which can be annoying, especially for companies without in-house water or environmental professionals.
It’s crucial for organisations to comprehend not only that this can happen but also why it does so, as well as how to react.
Why New Contaminants Occur
Frequently, the foundation of a temporary water treatment solution is a single point sample collected by the project team or a multi point sample performed by an environmental consultant or engineering firm.
The initial assumption is frequently that the previous data was inaccurate or incomplete when a new contamination is later discovered.
This isn’t always the case. Actually, it’s not often. The pollutants in a water source might fluctuate for a number of reasons. Weather.
The chemical makeup of water can alter as a result of rainfall, snowmelt, or other weather-related phenomena.
Not every pollutant disintegrates uniformly in a water supply. Due to the fact that chemicals that are heavier, denser, or less volatile sink to the bottom, stagnant water, in particular, might contain a variety of toxins at different depths.
These additional pollutants will enter treated water as a water source is emptied, necessitating new treatment procedures. water movement Groundwater is generally interconnected.
For instance, during the course of a dewatering project, which may last days or weeks, the water being drawn in may originate up to a quarter-mile away.
Because of this, this water may have a significantly varied chemical make-up, especially if it is impacted by industrial or agricultural activity.
The most important lesson is that someone’s work was not compromised by the discovery of new toxins. Water is dynamic, hence composition changes are common.
Adapting To New Pollutants Addressing new, unforeseen contaminants poses a number of difficulties for every project, including increased costs, downtime, and delays.
The footprint of the water treatment train grows as additional equipment is added, and for some projects, space is at a premium. Fortunately, there are techniques to lessen these effects.
Talk to your partners. When tests or other evidence point to the existence of unexpected pollutants, it is crucial to get in touch with supply partners very away.
Additionally, one should anticipate suppliers to be transparent about the reasons behind this and how they will affect the project.
When the project first begins, the ideal supplier should be honest about the possibility of such adjustments and what they might entail in terms of costs and operational efficiency.
Utilize their advice. Although mistakes can happen to anyone, an unanticipated contamination does not necessarily indicate a data or analysis error.
Confirming that the provider is coming up with the best solution possible in terms of the efficiency of the water treatment process and operational expenses is equally important to ensuring that the provider has the necessary knowledge on staff.
Expect price increases. Nobody loves to hear this, but removing additional contaminants almost always necessitates spending more money.
Variety of water contaminants sources
Actually, it’s not very often. A water source’s contaminants may change for a variety of causes.
The chemical makeup of water can alter as a result of rainfall, snowmelt, or other weather-related phenomena.
Not every pollutant disintegrates uniformly in a water supply. Due to the fact that chemicals that are heavier, denser, or less volatile sink to the bottom, stagnant water, in particular, might contain a variety of toxins at different depths.
These additional pollutants will enter treated water as a water source is emptied, necessitating new treatment procedures.
water movement Groundwater is generally interconnected. For instance, during the course of a dewatering project, which may last days or weeks, the water being drawn in may originate up to a quarter-mile away.
Because of this, this water may have a significantly varied chemical make-up, especially if it is impacted by industrial or agricultural activity.
The most important lesson is that someone’s work was not compromised by the discovery of new toxins.
Water is dynamic, hence composition changes are common. Adapting To New Pollutants Addressing new, unforeseen contaminants poses a number of difficulties for every project, including increased costs, downtime, and delays.
The footprint of the water treatment train grows as additional equipment is added, and for some projects, space is at a premium. Fortunately, there are techniques to lessen these effects.
Talk to your partners. When tests or other evidence point to the existence of unexpected pollutants, it is crucial to get in touch with supply partners very away.
Additionally, one should anticipate suppliers to be transparent about the reasons behind this and how they will affect the project.
When the project first begins, the ideal supplier should be honest about the possibility of such adjustments and what they might entail in terms of costs and operational efficiency.
Utilize their advice. Although mistakes can happen to anyone, an unanticipated contamination does not necessarily indicate a data or analysis error.
Sudden pollution means higher cost
At the same time, it’s crucial to confirm that the provider has the required knowledge on staff and is coming up with the best solution feasible in terms of the effectiveness of the water treatment process and operational costs.
Expect higher prices. Nobody likes to hear this, but getting rid of new impurities nearly invariably means paying more money.
Take use of modular technology. Utilizing technology that is easily adaptable to new treatment procedures would make sense given that the composition of water can change.
Modular units are offered by suppliers like United Rentals that are simple to move and rearrange to accommodate various scenarios. Working with constrained real estate benefits from this kind of flexibility.
For instance, units can be organised in a “L” or “U” shape rather than having to be in a straight line.
Piping can occasionally be routed over roads or around enduring constructions. Prepare yourself for change. This has two sides to it.
The first is mental, meaning that one should modify expectations to take into account the possibility of shifting quantities and types of toxins in water.
The second has to do with how the treatment train is constructed. No one likes to spend money on a treatment for a contaminant that isn’t there, but depending on the circumstance, it can be more cost-effective to upgrade to account for “an ounce of preventive” than to deal with downtime and delays.
Source: BlueConduit
