The Town of Denton’s Water Treatment Plant staff is dedicated to providing excellent quality drinking water for our town. We work continuously to ensure that our customers have a safe and plentiful supply of drinking water, both now and in the future.
The drinking water industry is among the most heavily regulated industry in the country. In most parts of the United States, getting clean safe drinking water is as easy as turning on a faucet. Government agencies (state & federal) require that water treatment facilities supplying drinking water nationwide must meet strict safety and quality standards. The regulation of drinking water by the federal government began with the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974. New and more stringent regulations have been added by the EPA almost every year since. .
Providing Denton with a sustainable supply of safe drinking water requires the daily effort of many individuals. The water treatment plant and distribution system operators that operate your water treatment system are also licensed by the state. Operators are tested for competence, and to verify that they have the experience and training to properly treat water for public consumption. The state requires continuing education of operators to ensure a constant awareness of new treatments and methods used to comply with the ever changing rules and regulations set forth by the state and EPA.
The Town of Denton’s Water Treatment Plant employs state certified operators who are dedicated to providing a safe drinking water to its customers, ensuring all the requirements set forth by state and federal agencies are met.
Consumer confidence reports (CCR’s) are direct mailed to our customers annually, detailing the various aspects of the regulated constituents detected in our drinking water.
Some interesting facts about the Town of Denton's Water Treatment Plant:
1.) The Town of Denton’s Water Treatment Plant, was built in 1967, and has the rated treatment capacity of 2.25 million gallons of water per day (MGD).
2.) The Town of Denton water system serves approximately 3,011 persons, based on the data provided by the state of NC Department of Environmental Health.
3.) The Town of Denton has two elevated water storage tanks. These two tanks hold approximately 573,000 gallons of water. The water towers provide storage for fire protection, peak demand periods, and provide ample pressure throughout the distribution system.
4.) The water plant is equipped with a laboratory used to perform extensive drinking water quality analyses.
5.) The Water Treatment Plant operates 365 days per year, 18-24 hours per day.
6.) The Water Treatment facility is operated and maintained by a Superintendent, three full time operators, a Laboratory manager, and one part time operator. The Superintendent acts as a plant operator in addition to their regular managerial duties, and is also the ORC (Operator in Responsible Charge) of daily operations at the plant.
7.) The staff also collects samples required by the state and monitors the system for potential problems. Some parameters must be analyzed by outside commercial laboratories, due to their complexity and costs.
Possible Limitations to Water Plant production are:
1.) Source Water: Due to the nature of our raw water source and the constantly changing water quality conditions, the source water is constantly monitored. Some of the conditions that could limit production are; rain, turbidity (muddy water), P.H., Alkalinity, Iron, algae, manganese, dissolved oxygen, cold water temps, lake turn over, flooding, and drought.
2.) Water Demand: Through constant monitoring of our own levels, as well as the purchase systems tank levels, it allows for us to see trends, allow for problems to be identified more readily, and allows for the optimum efficiency from our plant staff and operations here at the plant.
3.) Water Line Deterioration: The breakage of water lines in one or both of the systems can cause the loss of water volume and/or pressure. When such issues arise, it may require the cooperation of everyone involved in the combined systems
4.) System Maintenance: There are many maintenance issues that affect production, including: basin washing, tank inspections, water line replacement, exercising of the towns many valves, and flushing of the system. These tasks keep our system running smoothly. These duties need to be done in conjunction with plant operations, when possible, to make the process more manageable and to make sure our drinking water supply is not interrupted.
All maintenance is done in accordance with procedures approved by the state and federal agencies.
The Water Treatment Process:
The Town of Denton’s Water Treatment Plant receives its water from the Tuckertown Reservoir, which is in the Yadkin River basin. We have a conventional drinking water treatment plant. Depending on the quality of the incoming raw water, treatment facilities use a variety of processes to make the water safe to drink. At our plant, workers first add alum, caustic, potassium permanganate, and when conditions call for it, carbon, to the incoming water. These chemicals coagulate suspended particles such as algae, protozoa, viruses, bacteria, iron and manganese into larger particles that settle to the bottom of the settling basins. This process also reduces the turbidity as the water flows through the basins. Water then comes to the entrance of the filters. Facility workers then add chlorine into the water, in addition to the filters, to kill bacteria, viruses, and protozoa. This chlorine then goes through the filters, keeping the filters free from bacteria.
Next, they use activated carbon filters to remove organic compounds and any suspended particles still in the water. After filtration, chlorine is added again to satisfy any demand for chlorine by the water to keep within the regulations set forth by the State and E.P.A., and kill any remaining bacteria that may have entered the water during the filtration process.
The next step is the addition of phosphates to help to control the corrosion that happens in every distribution system (water + metals = corrosion). The final step involves adjusting the water's pH level to limit corrosion in the public water system and, in some communities, adding fluoride to help fight tooth decay in the population. We do add Fluoride at an average of 1.0 ppm.
Plant operators constantly monitor the water moving through the treatment plant during the entire treatment process. After the water has gone through the treatment process, there is a solids waste (alum sludge) that is produced and has to be removed and disposed of in accordance with our discharge permit.
Water treatment is a very in depth process and requires that operators and managers be constantly diligent and proactive in their efforts to maintain a properly running plant.
We would like to thank you for allowing us to continue to provide your family with quality drinking water. We ask that our customers help us to protect our water resources, which are the heart of our community and our way of life.
Please, call the Denton Town Hall at 336-859-4231 to report any water leaks that come to your attention.
Suspicious activity concerning the water lines, tanks, or treatment plants, should be reported ASAP the Denton Police Department by calling 336-859-2164 or 911.
