AWWA JAW55403

During the late 1990s, Meeteetse, Wyoming, needed to improve its drinking water supply and treatment facilities for the town's 368 residents. Deteriorating quality in its source of supply, the presence of Giardia in the finished water, and more stringent future water quality standards led the town to consider microfiltration (MF). With the assistance of the Wyoming Water Development Commission (WWDC), Meeteetse pilot-tested two MF systems to demonstrate acceptable performance and to identify design criteria. Meeteetse and the town's consulting engineer competitively bid the MF equipment and evaluated the initial bid cost and the present-worth cost of operating and maintaining the MF system to select the least-cost alternative for the town. As a result, Meeteetse installed an economical MF system that produces high-quality drinking water meeting all current standards. The new MF treatment plant began operation March 7, 2001, and has reliably produced filtered water with a turbidity of 0.03-0.04 ntu. The system operates automatically without coagulation, which minimizes operator time to about 3 hours a day, and allows the operators to handle other duties. Includes 3 references, table.