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RADIUM REMOVAL FOR A SMALL COMMUNITY WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM
Citation:
Mangelson, K. RADIUM REMOVAL FOR A SMALL COMMUNITY WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/2-88/039.
Description:
In 1984, a radium removal treatment plant was constructed for the small community of Redhill Forest located in the central mountains of Colorado. The treatment plant consists of a process for removing iron and manganese ahead of an ion exchange process for the removal of radium. The raw water comes from deep wells and has naturally occurring radium and iron concentrations of about 30-40 pCi/L and 7-10 mg/L, respectively. Before the raw water enters the main treatment plant, the raw water is aerated to remove radon gas and carbon dioxide. The unique features of the Redhill Forest Treatment Plant are related to the ways in which the radium removed from the raw water is further treated and eventually disposed of as treatment plant waste. A separate system removes only radium from the backwash/regeneration water of the ion exchange process and the radium is permanently complexed on a Radium Selective Complexer (RSC) resin made by Dow Chemical. The RSC resin containing radium is replaced with virgin resin as needed and the resin waste transported to a permanent final disposal site in Beatty, NV. The report presents a detailed description of the Redhill Forest treatment system and the results of in-depth monitoring of the processes and other factors relating to the overall operation of the radium removal system. Included are descriptions of modifications made in the plant operation to improve the overall system operation and of the procedures for final disposal of the RSC resin containing radium.