Biofouling in Raw Water Supply Wells and Its Impact Frederick Bloetscher, P.E., erhardt !. Witt, P. .

and Ro"ert E. Fergan, P.E. #cto"er $%, &''$ Face"ook (witter )inkedIn !em"rane *oncerns !any coastal water utilities across the +nited States are stri,ing to find additional sources of water to meet the demands of "urgeoning populations and ha,e limited freshwater a,aila"ility. In many cases, this freshwater is threatened "y saltwater intrusion from de,elopment that has reduced historical a-uifer heads. Surficial a-uifer sources also may ha,e water -uality concerns caused "y a high organic content and the potential for pollution. (his is especially pro"lematic in coastal Florida. In order to meet drinking water standards, many utilities ha,e pursued mem"rane processes for organic and hardness remo,al. (he finished water -uality of mem"rane softened water .nanofiltration/ is significantly "etter than the -uality of water from more traditional lime softening treatment processes. *omparisons of recent "ids ha,e indicated that the construction costs for mem"rane systems ha,e reduced su"stantially, while more traditional treatment costs ha,e increased to meet drinking water regulations. 0owe,er, as the mem"rane systems ha,e "ecome operational, it has "ecome clear that more care needs to "e taken in well construction and in the re,iew of micro"iological contaminants.

Raw Water 1uality *oncerns For years, +S EP2 and other agencies ha,e "een concerned with contamination of water supplies "y industrial users or commercial carrier accidents. E3tensi,e efforts are ongoing to protect watersheds and pro,ide for wellfield protection 4ones. 2s a result of findings concerning well contamination and the introduction of pathogenic "acteria in watersheds o,er the past 5' years, engineers and scientists ha,e found that "etter raw water -uality contri"utes to less e3pensi,e, "etter -uality finished water. #ther in,estigations ha,e indicated that while many wellfields may not "e threatened "y chemical contaminants, other concerns e3ist. For e3ample, plugging and fouling pro"lems occur. (hese plugging and fouling pro"lems are caused "y a num"er of hydrogeologic, geologic, engineering and construction related factors including the following.

6 0ydrogeologic constraints that are unassessed at the time of design and7or change o,er time. For e3ample, sand, clay or rock layers that are unsta"le and collapse into the well "ores8 naturally occurring and7or man9made fracturing7faulting8 long term water -uality changes caused "y changes to the hydraulic regime such as dams8 water hammer to the a-uifer7formation8 man9induced influences .mining the a-uifer, introduction of chemicals and7or microorganisms/8 and naturally occurring phenomena .sinkholes, karst terrain features and7or faulting/.

6 Poor well design and7or construction practices including insufficient placement of grout, improper design of pumps, ,al,es and fittings8 and e3cessi,e drawdown allowances. 6 Poor operating and7or maintenance procedures. 6 !echanical failures including failures of electrical motors, pumps and ,al,es. 6 0igh silt or sand content caused "y failure to de,elop the wells fully, or interfingered sand or silt layers that ha,e not or cannot "e sealed off from the "orehole or corrected in well design. 6 !icro"iological fouling pro"lems. (he first fi,e contri"ute to sand, silt and other physical deterioration in the wells and the downstream treatment system. In de,eloping water sources for mem"rane processes, engineers typically ha,e "een concerned with the a"ility of mem"ranes to remo,e impurities such as organics and hardness with concerns a"out the le,els of iron, sand and silt in the raw water. 2S(! has de,eloped standards for conducting water -uality analyses for re,erse osmosis applications .2S(! :5$%;9<</ and for measuring the silt density inde3 .S:I/ of the raw water .2S(! :5$<%9%5/. 2WW2 also has de,eloped a ; mg7) standard for sand content during new well de,elopment. (he issue with iron is the potential for the iron to deposit on the mem"rane surface. enerally, this le,el must "e kept "elow $ mg7). Sand and silt are clogging agents that impair pretreatment processes as well as damage mem"ranes ,ia clogging and physical surface damage .e.g., perforations/. !em"rane designs ha,e considered these pro"lems and ha,e specified lesser sand and silt contents than re-uired "y 2WW2 standards .!issimer/. 0owe,er, few designs ha,e recogni4ed the potential for micro"iological fouling pro"lems. 2ll of the pro"lems mentioned may contri"ute toward or "e early signs that "iofouling is a concern. 2s a result, the operation7start9up of the plant often is complicated with micro"iological fouling pro"lems.

!icro"iological Issues In stark contrast to pu"lic perception that a-uifers are =pristine= en,ironments, "acteria e3ist naturally in many a-uifer systems. 2lmost any a-uifer with an organic content will ha,e some degree of "acteriological acti,ity. (he typical agents for micro"iological fouling include iron, sulfur9reducing and slime producing organisms, although many others e3ist. 2n additional concern is that some of these organisms are opportunistic pathogens. Iron "acteria such as allionella are common in aero"ic en,ironments where iron and o3ygen are present in the groundwater and where ferrous materials e3ist in the formation .e.g., steel or cast iron wells/. (hese "acteria attach themsel,es to the steel and create differentially charged points on the surface, which in turn create cathodic corrosion pro"lems. (he iron "acteria then meta"oli4e the iron that is solu"li4ed in the process. Iron "acteria tend to "e rust colored or cause rust colored colonies on the pipe surfaces.

Sulfur reducing "acteria often are responsi"le for the hydrogen sulfide smell released when raw water is aerated. (hese "acteria are common where sulfur naturally e3ists in the formation, and will tend to form "lack colonies on pipe surfaces. While anaero"ic, they will e3ist in en,ironments where aero"ic conditions that can lead to sym"iotic relationships with aero"ic organisms e3ist. Slime producing "acteria are found in surface waters and in soil. !em"ers of this genre often are used to protect farm crops from fungal growth, and as a result are to "e e3pected in groundwater that has organics. 0owe,er, these "acteria are highly adapti,e. Research se,eral years ago indicated that the "acteria would grow in any en,ironment into which they were introduced. (he Pseudomonas genera are facultati,e anaero"es that can persist in o3ygen depleted en,ironments "y "reaking down comple3 hydrocar"ons for the o3ygen. In some circumstances, they will use nitrogen in the a"sence of o3ygen. Pseudomonas "acteria can permanently affi3 themsel,es to laser9polished >$?) stainless steel in a matter of hours, so attaching to steel or lower grades of stainless steel is easily accomplished. i,en that the Pseudomonas sp. are adhering "acteria, they are capa"le of producing a polysaccharide matri3 ."iofilm/ that can act as a "arrier protecting the "acteria incorporated in the films from harmful su"stances such as disinfectants and, in some cases, o3ygen. Biofilms also act to protect the "acteria from the shearing effect of tur"ulent flow, and can pro,ide an en,ironment for other species. Periodic sloughing occurs when the "iofilm gets too thick. (he micro"iological accumulations7 "iofilms pose se,eral significant concerns. First, the accumulations on the metallic surfaces create anodes and, in con@unction with reactions caused "y dissimilar metals, can lead to a steady cathodic deterioration o,er time .with or without iron "acteria/. Since the Pseudomonads are acid formers, ferrous materials are particularly ,ulnera"le to deterioration, especially in the presence of iron "acteria. (he sloughing e,ents pose a significant fouling concern for "oth the mem"rane softening and re,erse osmosis mem"ranes and could lead to some "reaching of the mem"ranes "y the "acteria, where"y the "acteria could su"se-uently enter the distri"ution system. Because of the si4e of the openings in the mem"ranes, it has "een assumed that the mem"ranes will filter out the "acteria, "ut the seals in the system may allow some leakage, allowing the permeate to "e e3posed to the raw water. (he accumulation of "acteria in the concentrate causes concern from the standpoint of a point source discharge, as well as the potential for se,ere corrosion caused "y concentration of inorganic salts and organic acids caused "y the "acteria. (he corrosion of the steel pipe at lime softening plants also could "e partially attri"uted to the "acteria "eing "rought in with the raw water. 2nalysis of treatment processes indicates that lime softening does a relati,ely good @o" at remo,ing the "acteria "ecause of the mi3ing of lime and raw water that occurs and the =sticky= constituency of the "acteria. 0owe,er, the proposed mem"rane softening process would not "e as effecti,e in the remo,al of the "acteria.

0ow to See If Aou 0a,e the Pro"lem

Routine monitoring of "ackground "acteria, especially iron and slime9producing species, should "e performed "y all utilities, whether water is o"tained from a groundwater source or a surface water source. Raw water samples must "e collected and analy4ed to determine the speciation of "acteria, fungi and other organisms. (his cannot "e done "y simply using B2R( or other tests .although they can pro,ide a preliminary indication of species of concern "eing present/8 it must "e done in a micro"iological la". (he samples should "e collected using one gallon sterili4ed plastic "ottles. (he wells should "e shut down for se,eral days. (he sample tap must "e sterili4ed in a manner similar to distri"ution system samples, since many of the organisms are common on the hands of people. (he wells then should "e turned on and samples collected. (he samples must "e placed on ice and sent to a la"oratory within four hours of sampling. Sampling protocol is important. If samples are collected from wells that ha,e "een running, the samples will "e less representati,e of the "acterial matri3 "ecause of the potential for not o"taining a sloughing e,ent. #nce deli,ered to the micro"iological la", the samples are analy4ed for heterotrophic "acteria plate count, fecal and non9fecal coliform "acteria plate count and identification of species and algae. (he standard industry practice for water distri"ution systems is that the presence of coliform "acteria is an indicator of a sanitary ha4ard. 0owe,er, this ignores other "acteria that are known pathogens, and also are e3tremely detrimental to functions of the mem"rane process. If undesira"le "acteria are found in the wells, distri"ution system sampling should occur to pro,ide some comfort that the pro"lem has not mo,ed "eyond the plant itself. (he presence or relati,e a"sence of microorganisms should determine the fre-uency of testing, "ut utilities must monitor this pro"lem.

If Aou 0a,e It, (hen WhatB 2ll parties must understand that as utilities mo,e toward more ad,anced treatment methods, more knowledge must "e gained a"out the -uality of the raw water. Where "acteria e3ist, nonferrous materials should "e used for the wells and the raw water lines where possi"le. If ferrous materials are used, it is ,ital that dissimilar metal conditions not e3ist, as these will encourage fouling or lead to deterioration due to cathodic reactions, and may encourage "iological growth. It is recommended that utilities that are in the process of designing or constructing new production wells or plants study the raw water -uality, potential plugging and fouling pro"lems, and the geologic formations prior to completing design and construction of the new facility. (est wells should "e checked for microorganisms and colloidal, sand and silt production. +se of sand separators, well disinfection programs and con,ersion of well construction materials from ferrous products to poly,inyl chloride .PC*/, fi"erglass and "ron4e must "e factored into the life9cycle cost of the treatment process and the capital program. (he need to make ma@or modifications to the wellfield often is o,erlooked in the life9cycle cost of a new mem"rane facility.

*hoosing the correct materials in the design of the plants, wells and pipelines is essential to sa,e considera"le maintenance costs in the future. *areful start9up of new facilities and the acknowledgment .and in,estigation/ of the potential for "iofouling will help engineers a,oid the traditional startup fouling pro"lems encountered "y many mem"rane facilities in the past. If changes to the wells cannot "e made, you can change the plant design or attend to the "acteria pro"lem in9situ. *hanging the design may "e the less e3pensi,e option, "ut will come with a time and treatment -uality penalty. In9situ treatment may "e the ne3t "est option. (reatment is routinely conducted using high concentrations of acid and chlorine, with the intent to shock the "acteria, "y causing rapid changes in their en,ironment ,ia p0 changes and o3idants. 0igh concentrations of acid, in con@unction with high chlorine concentrations .up to ?,''' mg7)/, ha,e "een found to "e effecti,e, "ut the heat generated limits the applica"ility to non9ferrous wells. 2 re,iew of the cement grout also should "e undertaken. #ther treatment methods ha,e included lining wells .with lesser disinfection fre-uency/, hydrogen pero3ide .in some circumstances/ and ,ariations of the p0 ad@ustment. (hey all ha,e met with ,arying degrees of success in controlling micro"iological growth. #3ygenated compounds should "e used with caution gi,en the a"ility of the "acteria to meta"oli4e the o3ygen from the chemical compounds.

*ity of 0ollywood 2 >' mgd mem"rane treatment plant recently was constructed for the *ity of 0ollywood .Fla./ to house $? mgd of softening mem"ranes to treat Biscayne a-uifer water .currently $5 mgd is installed/, and $5 mgd of re,erse osmosis mem"ranes to treat the "rackish raw water from the Floridan 2-uifer System .5.' mgd of re,erse osmosis mem"ranes currently are installed/. (hese processes e3ist on the same site as the *ityDs mgd lime softening facility that uses Spiractor treatment units .with a sand catalyst/ to treat relati,ely good -uality Biscayne water for many years. 2ll three processes are com"ined on9site to produce high -uality water. (he Biscayne 2-uifer is significantly affected "y rainfall. In addition, at one time, most of the surface was co,ered with the E,erglades, so significant -uantities of organics are found. 2s a result, it should "e no surprise that the *ityDs raw water and wells contain aero"ic iron "acteria, anaero"ic sulfur9reducing "acteria and slime producing "acteria that cause su"stantial damage to well e-uipment and column pipes, necessitating fre-uent maintenance. (he en,ironment within the a-uifer causes these "acteria to "e e3tremely aggressi,e toward iron pipe, including (ype >'5 and (ype >$?) stainless steel. (he *ity first noticed se,ere corrosion pro"lems in its wells during the $%%; e3pansion of its water treatment plant. Because the lime softening reactions do a good @o" at remo,ing the "acterial colonies, this was not an issue that the operations staff had focused on pre,iously. 2dditional damage was noted during in,estigations of the older iron well casings, pipes, pump "odies and fittings. In addition, iron "acteria staining and pitting were found on the stainless steel piping used for the raw water line on the plant site and for the mem"rane intakes. (esting of the cartridge filters showed effects from the "acteria in the *ityDs wells. (hus, the *ity has em"arked on a program to minimi4e the impact of the "acteria. (he *ity first initiated a program to treat all the wells with acid and ?,''' mg7) of chlorine. It was

determined that growth in the e3isting wells would occur within %' days, so o3ygen treatment was necessary. (he program went on to include new material specifications, pump changeouts, disinfection of the wells, replacement of iron9"ased parts, sliplining, a"andonment and drilling of new wells. Se,eral fi"erglass column pipes were installed to correct corrosion pro"lems. While no o"ser,a"le damage was e,ident to the fi"erglass, these column pipes showed a "right orange slime layer when withdrawn from the wells after se,eral years. (he *ity found that the orange slime was caused "y an iron "acterial growth, with the consistent presence of Pseudomonas sp.

*ollier *ounty In $%%', the *ollier *ounty Water9Sewer :istrict decided to proceed with the design of a $& mgd mem"rane softening .nanofiltration/ facility located fi,e miles north of its e3isting $& mgd lime softening plant. Finished water from the two plants was proposed to "e manifolded together prior to entering the distri"ution system. Both treatment plants were to use the same wellfield .a )ower (amiami a-uifer wellfield that had ser,ed the utility system for o,er ten years/. (he production 4one is a semi9confined 4one "etween ?' and $5' feet. E3cept for the first fi,e wells, all wells were of poly,inyl chloride .PC*/ construction with "ron4e pumps and stainless steel column pipes. 0owe,er, se,ere deterioration of the stainless steel column pipes installed in the late $%<'s indicated the presence of a significant -uantities of Pseudomonas, iron and sulfur9reducing "acteria. 2 wellfield disinfection program was initiated in $%%'. (oward the end of the construction of the mem"rane water treatment plant, the disinfection program was discontinued for nine months. (he operation staff immediately found that the failure to treat the pro"lem at the wells resulted in a significant -uantity of "acteria "eing passed into the mem"rane units, causing a fouling pro"lem. E3tensi,e cleaning of the mem"ranes with a "isulfite, citric acid and hydrogen pero3ide was re-uired to restore mem"rane efficiency in the *ountyDs plant. (he use of these strong chemicals is not desira"le in a new mem"rane facility. Eew mem"ranes are e3pected to ha,e a life of fi,e to se,en years and the facility is e3pected to ha,e a life in e3cess of >' years. (he cleaning process may cause damage to the mem"ranes and reduce the life of the mem"ranes and7or the plant.

*onclusions Plugging and "iofouling pro"lems in wells are pre,alent throughout South Florida and other areas of the country. +nfortunately, despite the num"er of systems utili4ing wells, the focus of operations personnel is more on the mechanical and electrical failures that routinely plague operators than on root causes of long9term deterioration such as colloidal, silt, sand, pump and well design and installation and "iofouling. *onclusions from the case studies are that long9term micro"iological pro"lems may go unnoticed, undiagnosed or improperly diagnosed. *athodic reactions from dissimilar metals pose significant risk to the long9term maintenance of the wellfield and may "e enhanced and e3acer"ated "y micro"iological action. 2 complete in,estigation and proper analysis of the

raw water supply including silt, sand and micro"iological analyses are re-uired prior to design of mem"rane processes. eologic pro"lems can go unnoticed during the initial startup of the wells. 0owe,er, geologic pro"lems, sand, silt or micro"iological clogging of a gra,el pack .or open hole/ are significant issues that are generally ignored "y design engineers, construction engineers and contractors, lea,ing the operations staff with a pro"lem shortly after start9up of the facility.

2cknowledgement !r. Bloetscher was pre,iously the 2ssistant +tilities 2dministrator for the *ollier *ounty Water9Sewer :istrict, and the :eputy Pu"lic +tilities :irector for the *ity of 0ollywood, Fla. Frederick Bloetscher, P.E., is director of engineering, operations and planning for Pu"lic +tility !anagement and Planning Ser,ices, Inc. .P+!PS, Inc./, :ania Beach, Fla. erhardt !. Witt, P. ., is the principal of erhardt !. Witt F 2ssociates, Inc., West Palm Beach, Fla. Ro"ert E. Fergan, P.E., is an engineer with 0a4en F Sawyer, Raleigh, E.*.