No one thinks about their access to clean drinking water until they don’t have any. Then, drinking water is on everyone’s mind. The City of Altamonte Springs didn’t wait for a disaster to strike to find new solutions for drinking water shortages. The City created pureALTA to face this issue and explore viable alternatives for the community’s future needs.
pureALTA addresses challenges brought on by continued population growth, shrinking groundwater supplies and the potential of drought. The project takes reclaimed water and treats it to meet or exceed all drinking water quality standards without using expensive, energy-consuming reverse osmosis.
The City’s unique process features four advanced treatments: ozonation and biological activated carbon filtration (O3/BAF), ultrafiltration (UF), granular activated carbon filtration (GAC) and ultraviolet light with advanced oxidation process (UV AOP). pureALTA consistently produces reliable results.
After purification, the water is returned to the reclaimed water system, where it is used for citywide irrigation. The City treats approximately 28,000 gallons of water daily but could build a full-scale system with the potential to treat up to 500,000 gallons of water per day—about 5 percent of the City’s future daily water demand without drawing from the aquifer.
The St. Johns River Water Management District shared the City’s vision of creating a sustainable water supply and provided grant funding to jumpstart the pilot. Carollo Engineers also played an integral part in the project’s major success by providing their expertise and guidance throughout the venture.
The project is a world-class pilot which tests the technologies that could one day bring safe drinking water to communities across the globe.
