AWWA MTC61131

The City of North Bay in Ontario, Canada has embarked on a long-term plan to upgrade its level of treatment to include filtration and to comply with new regulations recently promulgated under the Ontario Safe Drinking Water Act (OSDWA). A high recovery membrane/ultrafiltration (UV) system will convert more than 99% of the plant's feed water into drinking water. The treatment process will be incorporated into a facility design that incorporates low environmental impact, energy conservation and green-building design concepts (LEED). This project represents the largest pressurized membrane microfiltration (MF) installation for drinking water treatment in Canada with a summer capacity over 79 ML/d (20-MGD). A Membrane Integrity Verification and Management Program (MIVMAP) is currently under development for this facility, and will serve to monitor and manage the integrity of the membrane system. This paper addresses the two issues listed below that are related to the implementation of the MIVMAP in this facility. The first issue addresses the development of this program which extends the LRV framework developed under the LT2ESWTR and applies it to control Cryptosporidium and Giardia for compliance with other regulations, aid in plant design, and aid in operation and maintenance (O&M) strategies. The value of this approach is that design and O&M decisions are made in terms of a regulatory compliance viewpoint, in particularly for specific performance indicators (e.g., LRV). The second issue states that in order to maximize the benefits of having a robust treatment process (membranes), it is necessary for designers to maintain an adequate balance between high performance (LRV), regulatory compliance (credits) and maintenance requirements (integrity failures). Design decisions and product-specific characteristics can affect this balance, and therefore must be carefully considered in the early stages of the project. The unique procurement, design, and product-specific challenges of implementing this framework for an integrated two-stage membrane/UV treatment process is discussed in this paper. Includes tables, figures.