Denton was a top-5 finalist in the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ 2011 “Best Tasting City Water in America” contest, and the state of Texas recently awarded Denton with “superior” water status.
Denton has two separate water treatment facilities that meet the demands of almost 120,000 residents. The first stage of the treatment process begins with water drawn from both Lake Ray Roberts and Lake Lewisville. The water then goes through a coagulation and flocculation process, where the chemical compound ferric sulfate is used to clump up the “sludge” found in the water. The water then enters the second stage of the process, called sedimentation, where the sludge is given time to settle to the bottom nd given a minimal dose of chlorine with ammonia at the Lake Lewisville plant and Ozone at the Lake Ray Roberts plant.
The Lake Lewisville Treatment Plant will soon join the Lake Ray Roberts Water Treatment Plant in using the safer and more effective cleaning agent, Ozone. With the addition of Ozone, the two water treatment plants will give all Denton residents the same great-tasting water. Another stage of the process, called filtration, uses anthracite, sand, and gravel to rid the water of any leftover sediment and then gives it a final minimal dose of chlorine.
The city of Denton uses an estimated 18.5 million gallons a day (MGD), and both plants combined have a max output of about 50 MGD. The Lake Ray Roberts Plant, which is set to expand its 20 MGD capacity to 100 million MGD.
Denton is among a growing list of cities that are finding ozone treatment of their drinking water makes it safer and taste better, a winning combination all around.