AWWA JAW49848

The city of Marquette, MI, operates a public water system that uses Lake Superior as its raw water source. Historically, only chlorination was provided so that the drinking water met state and federal drinking water standards. In 1989, the US Environmental Protection Agency promulgated the Surface Water Treatent Rule (SWTR), which requires filtration of all surface water sources unless the water supplier controls the watershed. This rule intensified efforts by the state's drinking water program to have the city install and operate a filtration system. The city was advised to construct a direct filtration plant but decided against it. An alternative suggestion for the city's cold, clean source water was microfiltration (MF). Results of a feasibility study and a pilot study were positive, and the city designed, constructed, and began operation of a 0.026 x 10 6-m3/d (7 -mgd) MF plant. The plant, which has been on line for more than a year, has solved the SWTR regulatory concern and now provides the city with its drinking water. Includes reference, tables, figures.