The Fayette County Water System is the first in Georgia and among only a handful in the nation to install new monitoring technology that provides immediate information on water quality, according to county officials.
“Operators must not only have the proper tools to treat the water effectively but they need laboratory equipment that provides them real time results, so adjustments can be made during treatment to allow them to produce the best water quality possible,” Water System Director Lee Pope said.
The new process allows real time monitoring of Trihalomethane (THM), a chemical compound associated with health risks that is created when chlorine-treated water reacts with organic materials in the water.
The Fayette County system has struggled with THM compliance in the past because the testing process included gathering water samples that were sent to a lab for analysis, officials said. The results were not known for several weeks and the delay made it difficult for system operators to make adjustments to the water delivered into the county’s mass distribution system.
The water system includes more than 618 miles of piping and five storage facilities.
The new multi-sensor system that Fayette officials tracked down in the United Kingdom allows immediate THM monitoring throughout all stages of the treatment process.
One unit is located at the South Fayette Water Treatment Plant and the other unit is at the Crosstown Water Treatment Plant in Peachtree City.
“The implementation of this state-of-the-art monitoring technology demonstrates Fayette County’s commitment to providing top quality water to consumers and demonstrations how our new leadership is raising the standard for water industry monitoring across the state,” said Commission Chairman Steve Brown.
