Virginia American Water conducted a small-scale plant trial that used advanced oxidation, ultraviolet light and hydrogen peroxide to remove the taste and odor-causing compounds in the Appomattox River source water. The plant trial demonstrated that this method efficiently and effectively removed the compounds, even at high levels.
Because of record temperatures of the 2010 summer, microscopic organisms in the Appomattox River had multiplied. When the algae was removed during the water treatment process, they released a nontoxic substance that caused changes in odor and the taste of water.
However, the implementation of such technical modifications would require another rate increase. But in December, the Virginia State Corporation Commission and several commission staff members indicated that with Hopewell’s water continuing to meet all federal and state health standards, there is no regulatory requirement to address the taste and odor problem.
In a customer survey last fall, conducted by a third-party polling firm, only 15 percent of respondents said they would support the engineering solution if the rate increase were $3 to $4 per month, while one-third were opposed to any rate increase. About half of respondents favored a smaller increase of $1 to $3 per month.
Last year, the company slowed down the water treatment process through the newly expanded plant to allow greater treatment time, changed the treatment protocol by feeding additional powdered activated carbon and placed online additional granulated carbon contactors. Th approach was successful in removing the taste and odor problem, although the levels of taste and odor-causing substances were much less than they were in 2010.