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 st ate 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 t o high levels of radionuclide contamination, which can be caused by high levels o f naturally occurring uranium or radium, and other radioactive materials in the g round geology. In this case, uranium was the source of contamination. While uran ium 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 ser ious 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 Lani er to provide water for its 28,000 residents. Nearly 85 to 90 percent of Lawren ceville’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 t he 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 w ells.

The Solution

Lawrenceville water utility officials sought the he lp of Water Remediation Technology, LLC (WRT) to implement a treatment proc ess 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 inv olves passing the contaminated water through a fluidized bed of proprietary treatment media. The system operates passively, allowing the treatment m edia 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 contaminant s 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 spe nt media.

Following a successful pilot study to document the effectiveness of the WRT system, and to provide information necessary to mee t regulatory compliance for re-activating the wells, water utility officials se lected WRT’s treatment process as a cost-effective solution to the uranium problem. T he treatment system not only reduced uranium to levels well below the maximum al lowed, it also proved easy to manage and safe for the environment. Since WRT i s responsible for the handling and removal of the uranium from the treatm ent site to a remote licensed facility, the system is able to prevent future cont amination 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 co mpany that holds such a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the handling of uranium from drinking water. WRT, which also has Radioactiv e Materials Licenses in several other states, is working with the Georgia E nvironmental Protection Division to license the storage, removal, and handl ing 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 n ext by the water utility officials. Plans are on track for the uranium remov al system to be in place and operational later this year, and city leaders expec t the full water treatment plan to allow Lawrenceville to rely on its own water suppli es, limiting its dependence on Lake Lanier for the long-term.