The city Flint’s Drinking Water Treatment Plant is rated to treat 36 million gallons of water a day. The city of Flint’s average daily usage is about 11 million gallons a day. The plant was built in 1956. The old plant, which was built in 1917, is still standing on site. The plant has received various upgrades to the tune of about $50 million from 1998-2006.
The plant employs ozone generators to produce ozone as a primary disinfectant and to oxidize other compounds in the water. The ozone is introduced via fine bubble diffusers in the contact tank which is a common method of ozone water mixing. Ozone is used to treat drinking water around the world and the water from the City of Detroit also uses ozone.
Flint is evaluating options for future drinking water resources. The plant is looking at treating water from the Flint River and mixing it with water from Detroit. At present, they are running tests. After a test run at the plant, the treated Flint River water is dumped back right into the river. If the this approach is adopted city can easily use the water by opening a valve to the distribution system and send the treated water to residents and businesses in the city.