DuPont Manati Site Earns Water Quality Award

The Water Environment Federation (WEF) recently presented its 2009 Industrial Water Quality Achievement Award to DuPont Engineering and the Manati Plant in Puerto Rico, in recognition of major upgrades of the site’s wastewater treatment system.

On behalf of the plant and DuPont Engineering, Bharat Desai, DuPont Engineering Research & Technology (DuET) senior consultant, accepted the award at the WEF annual conference. WEF, a non-profit technical and educational organization, focuses on water quality issues worldwide.

“This recognition is an outstanding achievement for our plant and employees,” said Ivonne Giraud, plant manager -- DuPont Agricultural Caribe Industries. “I congratulate and thank all the local and corporate participants who contributed to the success of this project. Their work has substantially improved water management and wastewater treatment at our site.”

Upgrades include a groundwater protection pad and dike wall for spill containment at the wastewater treatment tank.

The water quality challenge at the site was solved through wastewater source reductions and a three-phase, $7.5 million project at the site that:

* Minimized the wastewater generation to the extent possible.
* Upgraded treatment to an above-ground sequencing batch reactor system.
* Employed a state-of-the-art membrane polishing and water reuse system.

According to Ken Wood, DuET senior consultant and primary technologist for the project, the new wastewater treatment system will enable the Manati site to comply with DuPont’s groundwater protection standards, and also contribute to the site’s overall sustainability.