United Water completed a $100 million rehabilitation of the Haworth Water Treatment Plant including ozonation equipment. The improvements were the largest single capital investment for United Water during its 140-years of operation.
The project was driven by drinking water regulatory compliance issues. These were caused by pollution of the source water. Better protection of the reservoir would have probably resulted in a less costly solution, but the process improvements at the plant will bring the drinking water into compliance.
The upgrade included a new ozone system, which will reduce the energy needed to disinfect and remove unwanted tastes and odors from the water. Ozone is widely used in situations where both disinfection and taste/odor problems are present. The facility previously used ozone, so the investment shows that this method of water treatment worked well.