WRT Helps Re-activate Dormant Wells In Lawrenceville, GA

Seeking Solutions To Water Scarcity Issues:

WRT Helps Re-activate Dormant Wells In Lawrenceville, GA

Water Remediation Technology, LLC

The Problem
In the fall of 2007 more than one quarter of the state of Georgia found itself
experiencing a D4, or exceptional, drought – the highest level on the drought
scale. As conditions worsened in the northern third of the state, including the
Atlanta metro area, water levels dipped dangerously low in Lake Lanier, the main
water source for more than three million people in the region.
Compounding the drought issue, many of Northern Georgia’s previously
operating wells had been taken out of service due to high levels of radionuclide
contamination, which can be caused by high levels of naturally occurring uranium
or radium, and other radioactive materials in the ground geology. In this case,
uranium was the source of contamination. While uranium can be found naturally
in soil, water and food at low concentrations, high levels of these contaminants
ingested over a long period of time can lead to serious health problems.
For the community of Lawrenceville, Ga., these circumstances created the
perfect storm for a potential water shortage. Like many cities in close proximity to
Atlanta, Lawrenceville depends largely on Lake Lanier to provide water for its
28,000 residents. Nearly 85 to 90 percent of Lawrenceville’s water supply comes
from the lake, with the remaining 10 to 15 percent supplied by 11 wells – four of
which were taken out of service over the last five years for health concerns
associated with high levels of uranium. To reduce the city’s dependence on Lake
Lanier, and to also ensure Lawrenceville residents would continue to have a
sufficient supply of safe drinking water, officials needed to identify a solution that
would allow them to reactivate the city’s dormant wells.
The Solution
Lawrenceville water utility officials sought the help of Water Remediation
Technology, LLC (WRT) to implement a treatment process that would reduce
uranium contamination from previously dormant wells and bring them within
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines.
WRT’s proprietary Z-92® uranium removal process involves passing the
contaminated water through a fluidized bed of proprietary treatment media. The
system operates passively, allowing the treatment media to remove uranium from
the water as it is pumped from the well and passes through the system. The
uranium in the water attaches to the treatment media within the system, after
which the water is safe for consumption.
The process ensures safe removal of the contaminants with no negative impact
on the local environment. WRT technicians exchange the treatment media,
remove it from the well site and dispose of it in a licensed facility designed to
handle radioactive materials on a long-term basis. By removing and disposing of
the residuals in facilities licensed for low-level radioactive waste, the company
ensures that no contamination is re-introduced back into the local environment
and mitigates Lawrenceville’s liability for the spent media.
Following a successful pilot study to document the effectiveness of the WRT
system, and to provide information necessary to meet regulatory compliance for
re-activating the wells, water utility officials selected WRT’s treatment process as
a cost-effective solution to the uranium problem. The treatment system not only
reduced uranium to levels well below the maximum allowed, it also proved easy
to manage and safe for the environment. Since WRT is responsible for the
handling and removal of the uranium from the treatment site to a remote licensed
facility, the system is able to prevent future contamination in the water. In
addition, no water is wasted throughout the system, nor are any chemicals
added.
The treatment removal system in Lawrenceville will operate under WRT’s
Radioactive Materials License, as is typical of the company’s radionuclide
removal systems in other states. WRT is the only company that holds such a
license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the handling of uranium
from drinking water. WRT, which also has Radioactive Materials Licenses in
several other states, is working with the Georgia Environmental Protection
Division to license the storage, removal, and handling of natural radium and
uranium from the state’s drinking water.
The WRT uranium removal system will be the first of its kind in the state, with
Lawrenceville’s other contaminated wells targeted next by the water utility
officials. Plans are on track for the uranium removal system to be in place and
operational later this year, and city leaders expect the full water treatment plan to
allow Lawrenceville to rely on its own water supplies, limiting its dependence on
Lake Lanier for the long-term.