US utility back ozone / biological treatment research

US utility Gwinnett has approved an agreement with the WateReuse Research Foundation for a research project to test the feasibility and economics of using an ozone/biological treatment process to produce drinking water directly from reclaimed water.

compared to a more expensive reverse-osmosis process that is currently used in Texas and California. Gwinnett’s drinking water will not be impacted by the research.

Gwinnett currently uses a combination of ozone and biological filtration at one of its water reclamation facility. The treated wastewater is fed back to Lake Lanier.

The WateReuse Research Foundation will provide US$ 100,000 in support the research project. This will add to more than US$ 900,000 in planned expenditures by the county, including the purchase of pilot plant equipment and engineering services and testing.