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City of St. Marys Water Treatment Plant
St. Marys, OH 45885
Telephone: 419-394-5512
Water Sources
St. Marys citizens are very fortunate that our four wells are
capable of providing large quantities of water free of bacteria and other
contaminants. Two of the wells are located in a gravel formation in the ancient
Teays River Valley System, while the other two are located in a limestone
formation. Wells #1 and #2 are limestone wells in the Carl Jackson Well
Field. Both are 270 feet deep and pump 1100 gallons per minute. Wells #4 and #5
are gravel wells in the Barrington Well Field. Well #4 is 320 feet deep and
pumps 850 gallons per minute, and Well #5 is 354 feet deep and pumps 1200
gallons per minute.
Water Treatment
Untreated well water pumped into the treatment plant goes
through a complex, multi-stage treatment process that takes about 12 hours,
producing a consistent supply of high quality drinking water. The treatment
plant is a lime-soda ash softening facility; softening the water makes it
‘kinder‘ to appliances, machinery, and the human body.
Water Treatment Stages:
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Rapid Mixers - treatment chemicals
(lime, soda ash, and ferric chloride) thoroughly and violently mix with well
water.
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Flocculation - gentle mixing allows
treatment chemicals to react with hardness causing substances in the water,
forming heavy particles that will settle out of the water.
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Sedimentation - heavy particles
separate from the water by gravity. The
sludge that settles out is pumped to one of three storage lagoons, where it
thickens. The clear water that is left after the thickening discharges to a
small creek. After several years, contractors apply the sludge, which is
valuable soil conditioner, to agricultural land.
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Stabilization - liquid carbon
dioxide is added to control the pH of the treated water, stabilizing it in the
process.
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Chlorination - a small amount of
chlorine is added to provide protection from accidental cross-contamination
once the water leaves the treatment plant. Ohio
EPA requires that a chlorine residual must be present in the water throughout
the system.
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Filtration - rapid
sand filters remove any remaining fine particles producing clear, softened,
safe drinking water.
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Storage and delivery
- an underground tank called a clearwell holds treated water until it is
needed for consumption. High pressure pumps deliver the water to consumers.
Two water towers with a combined capacity of 1,250,000 gallons, store water on
the system, controlling water pressure and providing fire protection.
Laboratory
The Water Treatment Plant Laboratory is Ohio EPA approved and
contains all the various equipment needed to monitor the water. Lab analysts,
thoroughly trained and certified by Ohio EPA to do both chemical and
bacteriological tests, check water quality at all stages of the treatment
process to insure that the water is treated properly. Tests include pH,
hardness, alkalinity, chlorine residual, and bacteriological. In addition to
routine tests we monitor for the presence of more than 130 complex chemical
compounds. This monitoring, mandated by EPA and the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA),
helps protect the health of the public.
Maintenance
Regular maintenance is a very important part of operating a
public water supply. Personnel are charged with many tasks and projects in order
to keep the treatment plant operating at peak levels. Examples include:
preventative maintenance of treatment plant equipment, regular inspections of
the wells and water towers, and many other activities.
Staff
Three full time operators staff the St. Marys Water Treatment
Plant sixteen hours per day, seven days per week. Two supervisors, a laboratory
technician, a relief operator, and two maintenance men split time between the
plant and other duties. All employees are Ohio EPA certified operators. The
increasingly technical nature of Federal and State regulations requires
continuing training on the part of all employees.
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