The PC-South/Osprey Marsh Algal Turf Scrubber® (ATS) pilot was implemented for Indian River County, Florida, to evaluate whether ATS treatment could support management of reverse osmosis concentrate from the County’s Oslo Road water treatment facility. The pilot treated a blended flow of RO concentrate and South Relief Canal water and evaluated the treated effluent relative to applicable permit, consent-order, FDEP, and Class III surface-water requirements.
PC-South/Osprey Marsh ATS pilot floway in Indian River County, Florida, treating blended reverse osmosis concentrate and South Relief Canal water.
The pilot provided site-specific data for evaluating ATS treatment in the South Relief Canal / Indian River Lagoon watershed. The project also helped support planning for future ATS-based treatment concepts in Indian River County, including the later Osprey Marsh ATS facility.
Facility Summary
Facility: PC-South/Osprey Marsh Algal Turf Scrubber® Pilot
Location: Indian River County, Florida
Technology: Algal Turf Scrubber® / attached-algae floway
Scale: 28,000 GPD; 500-foot-long by 1-foot-wide mobile pilot floway
Status: Pilot testing completed
Operating Period: 2011
Source Water: Blend of reverse osmosis concentrate and South Relief Canal water
Operating Context: RO-concentrate management; surface-water discharge compliance; Indian River Lagoon watershed
Application: RO-concentrate blending and treatment, water-quality compliance evaluation, nutrient-load reduction, dissolved oxygen enhancement, and full-scale treatment evaluation
Owner / Sponsor: Indian River County and Florida Department of Environmental Protection
HydroMentia Role: Pilot system implementation, operation, monitoring, data evaluation, ATSDEM assessment, and final performance reporting
Operating Context
Indian River County was evaluating treatment options for managing reverse osmosis concentrate from the County’s Oslo Road water treatment facility. The PC-South pilot was designed to evaluate a blended flow of RO concentrate and South Relief Canal water and to determine whether ATS treatment could produce an effluent suitable for surface-water discharge under applicable regulatory conditions.
The original target blend was approximately 6:1 to 10:1 canal water to RO concentrate, with additional testing conducted at lower dilution ratios to evaluate more challenging low-flow canal conditions. Treated effluent was evaluated relative to permit, consent-order, FDEP correspondence, and applicable Class III surface-water criteria.
The project was implemented in the same regional setting as Indian River County’s larger ATS-based water-treatment program. The Egret Marsh ATS was already in operation, and the PC-South pilot provided site-specific data to help evaluate whether ATS treatment could be applied to RO-concentrate management and future full-scale treatment concepts.
Operational Significance
The PC-South/Osprey Marsh pilot is significant because it evaluated ATS treatment for a specialized water-quality management application: blending and treatment of RO concentrate with canal water prior to surface-water discharge. In addition to nitrogen and phosphorus reduction, the pilot evaluated a broad set of water-quality and regulatory parameters, including pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, fluoride, unionized ammonia, sulfide, radionuclide-related parameters, and bioassay testing.
The project demonstrated that ATS treatment could improve blended water quality through biological uptake, physical filtration, oxygenation, and chemical changes across the floway. The pilot also showed reductions in nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations and substantial increases in dissolved oxygen across the treatment floway.
The results provided Indian River County with site-specific data for evaluating ATS-based RO-concentrate management and future treatment concepts in the South Relief Canal / Indian River Lagoon watershed. The pilot also contributed to the technical foundation for the later Osprey Marsh ATS facility.
Photographs
Photographs of the PC-South/Osprey Marsh ATS pilot show the mobile pilot floway. Additional project photographs may be added as available.
Reports and Publications
The PC-South/Osprey Marsh pilot is documented in HydroMentia’s final performance report for Indian River County and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Technical report: PC-South Algal Turf Scrubber® Pilot Final Report — December 2011
Related Facilities
Related HydroMentia ATS facilities and demonstrations include Osprey Marsh ATS, Egret Marsh ATS, S-154 ATS, Falls Lake ATS, NYCDEP Rockaway ATS, Maryland Port Administration Algal Flow-Way, and other full-scale and pilot-scale attached-algae treatment systems.