Aqua Ohio plant on Route 170 in need of an upgrade

By JESSICA HARDIN

jhardin@vindy.com

POLAND

The Aqua Ohio plant on Route 170 was first constructed in 1916, and more than 100 years later, it is in need of an upgrade.

“When this plant was built, Model-T Fords were running off the assembly line. You can’t keep updating a Model-T Ford. It’s time for an F-150,” said Aqua Ohio communications consultant Jeff La Rue.

The $12 million renovation, which began several weeks ago, will replace two-thirds of the plant’s water treatment process.

The plant serves more than 60,000 Mahoning Valley residents in Struthers, Poland, Lowellville, New Middletown, and the townships of Beaver, Boardman, Canfield, Coitsville, Poland and Springfield.

“What’s driving this project is we need to be more efficient. We’re working with, in some cases, 100-year-old plant parts. It is not up to our modern standards,” said La Rue.

When briefing local media on the water treatment process Friday, production manager George Gillis explained one of the renovation’s primary upgrades: the technology that removes organic particles from the water.

“These are going to go away,” La Rue said as he gestured to a series of settling basins. “We’ll have three new 146,000-gallon tanks that replace all that.”

In the tanks, called solids contact units, water is treated with chemicals such as activated carbon.

The carbon acts like a sponge and bonds to various organic particles, making them larger and easier to remove.

The process is essential for clear and clean-tasting drinking water, and the new technology will improve the efficiency of treatment.

“With the organic removal, that’s where we’re going to see a lot of bang for our buck ... It will improve our ability to treat the water and maybe save money with chemical expenditures,” said Gillis.

Adopting advanced technology helps Aqua Ohio anticipate new federal water regulations, Gillis said.

“There’s a whole bunch of new EPA rules and regulations coming, and one thing Aqua does well is they don’t wait until the rules are there. So, they’re making changes prior to these things happening,” said Gillis.

In addition, Aqua Ohio took future growth of the plant into account when developing its renovation plans.

The renovated plant is expected to go online next fall.