Xylem Develops Customised Water Treatment Solution for Australian Town

Xylem will produce a containerised solution using GE ZeeWeed membrane technology that will provide high quality drinking water for 300 people in the remote town. Construction of the plant begins this month (January 2013) with delivery scheduled for July 2013. Xylem has been GE’s distribution partner into the public utilities market for the latter’s advanced membrane filtration products since November 2011.

Xylem has designed the water treatment system for the town of Taralga to be compact in size, durable and flexible to allow for increases in output if required in the future. As the main raw water source for the system is a river, key challenges for the solution are algae and high variations in incoming turbidity which can reach values of up to 80 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU). In addition, since the water temperature in the region drops to 5°C during winter, the plant has been designed with the ability to treat cold water at a similar rate to the temperatures experienced during the warmer months.

Todd Miklich, business development manager with Xylem said, “Taralga’s current water supply frequently displays high levels of turbidity and discolouration. Both of these issues are addressed with our solution. Through enhanced coagulation we ensure that organic matter is removed and discolouration is reduced. The membranes ensure a constant low turbidity of less than 0.3 NTU irrespective of any turbidity peaks in the raw water entering the system. Our solution also ensures accurate Protozoa reduction of more than three log while final chlorination delivers residual disinfection. In essence we are delivering a complete solution that manages water transportation, treatment and chemical waste handling.”

GE’s ZeeWeed advanced ultrafiltration membranes are pressure-driven barriers that suspend solids, bacteria, viruses and other pathogens from water or wastewater, producing water with very high purity and low-silt density. The membranes can treat surface water, ground water and biologically treated municipal effluent. Nearly 2,500 plants worldwide use this technology to produce superior quality drinking water and to meet or exceed stringent wastewater treatment and water reuse standards.

Luke Maloney, Manager Operations, Upper Lachlan Shire Council said, “As well as the strong technical solution that Xylem is delivering for our water treatment challenges, we are reassured by the fact that Xylem can help us to maintain the system and ensure that it consistently operates at peak performance.”

The collaboration between Xylem and GE leverages Xylem’s global sales network, which helps customers in more than 150 countries address critical water issues. For public utilities, the addition of GE’s ZeeWeed membranes expands the water and wastewater treatment product portfolio available from Xylem, which currently includes products for water and wastewater transport, biological treatment, media filtration and disinfection.