Case Study for Customer Location CO89:
Reservoir or Lake Use:
Lake 4 is part of multi-lake, raw water storage complex for the city of. Lake 4 is the final lake in the series of lakes, and water from Lake 4 goes into the water treatment plant (WTP). There are no recreational activities allowed on the lake.
System Overview and Reservoir:
Lake 4 is approximately 115 surface acres, with an average depth of 25’, a maximum depth of 35’, and a volume of approximately 2,900 acre-feet. Source water is primarily from the ditch, which is strongly dominated by secondary effluent from the large city near by.
Reported Problem Before SolarBee Installation:
Major problem was blue-green algae blooms that created taste and odor issues, as well as additional costs of adding copper sulfate to kill the algae, and powdered carbon (PAC) to inactivate taste and odor causing chemicals released from dead algae. WTP would frequently get taste and odor complaints from consumers during the summer because of these blooms.
SolarBee Installation:
Date: Date: April, 2003. Installed three (3) SB10000 units, standard solar powered. April 2005, moved the original 3 SB10000 units to Lake 2, and installed 3 units of the newer SB10000v12 model in Lake 4.
Results:
There have been no blue-green algae blooms in Lake 4 or associated taste and odor events since the SolarBees were installed in 2003. Routine water quality data collected by the WTP show good dissolved oxygen distributions in the water column, Secchi depths averaging about 9-13 feet, chlorophyll a concentrations around 2 ug/L, and large zooplankton populations in the lake. In July 2006, the ditch water went directly into both Lake 4 and to fill the newly-built reservoir (7,000 acre-ft); in Lake 4 there were no algal blooms and chlorophyll a remained about 2 ug/L, while the reservoir had a large algal bloom with chlorophyll a around 60 ug/L. Savings by not having to use copper sulfate and PAC in Lake 4 is about $7,000-10,000/yr. Savings in Lake 2, about half the size of Lake 4, is about $3,500-$5,000/yr. The city’s WTP is very pleased with the consistently good water quality and associated chemical reductions that SolarBee circulation has provided, even when the source water is secondary wastewater effluent.
SolarBee installations at the lake.
Updated: 04/20/2007
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