Fort Madison Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment Facility

The City of Fort Madison placed into operation a new 5 mgd reverse osmosis water treatment facility. HR Green performed a pilot study to select the treatment technology, designed the new facility and provided construction administration and observation services.

However, the City needed more than technical consulting to realize the goal of cleaner water; the City also needed help developing a plan to pay for this major improvement. To meet this need, HR Green integrated the services of our in-house planning staff with the process of design. More than merely “writing grants,” this approach brought the disciplines of engineering and urban planning together to accomplish the plant’s construction. HR Green’s planners helped the City to obtain more than $1.2 million in outside funding for the project, including federal appropriations funneled through the state of Iowa as part of an economic stimulus package. For the remaining project costs, HR Green worked with the City to establish a strategy for project financing. In total HR Green was able to secure $3 million in funding for Fort Madison.

With project financing in place, HR Green completed the treatment facility design to treat water from a new well field source with iron and manganese removal through pressure filtration along with softening using reverse osmosis treatment. Pressure filtration included four horizontal pressure filters with a total capacity of 5 mgd. Reverse osmosis treatment included three RO membrane skids with a total capacity of 3 mgd. All aspects of the facilities were designed for a plant expansion with a total capacity of 8 mgd. Two lagoons were included for filter backwash retention prior to discharge with the RO concentrate to the Mississippi River. Additional facilities included in the design were six chemical storage/feed systems, a RO clean-in-place system, a blower and compressor room, electrical and control rooms, high service pump room and cast-in-place concrete clearwell, mechanical room, restrooms and break room, conference room, office, storage rooms, and a maintenance garage with wash bay.