Brookville, Pa., Upgrades Water Treatment Plant

The original Brookville, Pa., water treatment plant used an outdated filtration process that purified drinking water by running it through layers of sand and gravel. In recent years, discharges from abandoned underground coal mines were major threats to water quality and the plant also experienced difficulty in meeting newer, more stringent water quality requirements for pathogen reduction, particle removal, disinfection by-products and algae control. A more efficient water treatment system was needed.

Moving Up to Membrane Filtration

The Brookville Municipal Authority, which serves the Brookville and Corsica boroughs and Rose and Union townships, asked Gwin, Dobson & Foreman (GD&F) to design a new water treatment plant. After extensive pilot testing, GD&F proposed a membrane filtration system with sedimentation and ultraviolet disinfection to comply with the most stringent water quality standards for the Brookville plant, located at the North Fork Redbank Creek reservoir.

The membrane filtration system is one of the easiest to operate and maintain. It is monitored by an automated control system to ensure a consistent standard of water treatment and purification that comply with the Stage 2-DBP and LT2-enhanced surface water treatment rules. Labor time at the plant has also decreased dramatically due to the ease of operation.

Certified by NSF Intl.

The $12.5 million construction project included the following concrete structures:

• New reinforced concrete intake structure, including two 12-in. diameter intake screens (with air purge system) and a wet well
• Baffled inlet, raw water and rectangular sedimentation tanks with mechanical sludge collectors
• Filtrate waste storage/recycle tank, sludge drying beds and finish water-pumping tanks (centrifugal)
• Central control building, including chemical feed and storage systems, control room/laboratory, conference rooms, garage and offices

Permanent Protection

Penetron, Penecrete Mortar and Peneplug were used for the sedimentation channels and the main concrete structures, and tanks built for the North Fork Creek plant were treated with Penetron Admix. The concrete is now waterproof and any leakage of the treated water supply to surrounding ground water and streams has been eliminated.

Source: The Penetron Group