Advanced water treatment begins on island

The Gasparilla Island Water Association now has its advanced water treatment up and running. “We turned on yesterday,” said GIWA Executive Director Ron Bolton. “We sent the ‘mixed liquor’ over.”

The utility started the switch at 10 a.m. Wednesday, when the pipes were switched over. By 6 p.m., the utility was sending high quality reclaimed water into the retention pond.

“We will be in seven days of performance testing,” Bolton said.

The process is an Advanced Membrane Treatment from Memcor, a subsidiary of DuPont. It is the most advanced water treatment available. The utility had the systems ready since March of last year, but had not been able to turn it on due to hurricane disruptions. In addition, once the process is started, they cannot reverse it. 

On Wednesday, GIWA turned on its DuPont advanced water system. Top, the switchover. Photo by Matt