GE to retrofit Florida plant with membranes over media filtration

GE Water & Process Technologies is to retrofit Lake Manatee Water Treatment Plant in Florida, US, with its ZeeWeed 1000 ultrafiltration membranes.

The 52 million gallons-a-day (197,000 m3/d) plant takes surface water from Lake Manatee reservoir and groundwater from East County Well Field.

GE will supply 12 membrane trains in a two-stack design suitable to be retrofitted into existing sand filter basins. The project also incorporates a partial siphon design to reduce the cost of permeate pumping.

The system is expected to operate at 96.3 per cent recovery following the retrofit.

Manatee County is upgrading the plant because the multimedia filters in its surface water treatment trains are nearing the end of their useful life. The municipality provides drinking water to 350,000 residents of Manatee County, Sarasota County, the cities of Palmetto and Brandenton, and the municipalities on the barrier islands.