Interest in the use of ozone for drinking water treatment continues to expand, especially with increasingly tight regulation and the availability of stimulus money for infrastructure projects.
The Manistique, Michigan is looking at stimulus money to help fund ozone treatment at the city’s water/wastewater plant. Local officials report the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has lowered the acceptable limits of disinfection byproducts. As a result, many Michigan communities will need new or additional water sources, or make major improvements to drinking water plants. The compliance dead line is October 1, 2013.
Manistique already has planned an upgrade at their drinking water plant, which will be funded with a loan/grant from USDA Rural Development. The city had previously planned to only do the second step, which is ozone treatment, if needed to meet the standards. With the availability of the stimulus money, the city is looking to apply for the funds to complete the ozone treatment, thus guaranteeing compliance.
Ozone generator systems can last 15 to 20 years with proper maintenance and thus are good long term investments. This makes them excellent applications for the stimulus money.