Catawba River Water Plant - Executive Summary

| Accident History | Chemicals | Emergency Response | Registration | Source | Executive Summary |

The Catawba River Water Filter Plant located offn Hwy 5 in Van Wyke, SC uses chlorine to disinfect water.  The chlorination process uses liquid chlorine stored in 2,000 pound cylinders.  The CRWP has trained personnel onsite at all times.  Filter plant personnel are trained in chlorine cylinder procedures, which include connecting, disconnecting and emergency procedures.  The chlorination process is equipped with automatic shutoff valves in the event of a loss of vacuum pressure.  The chlorine storage area has gas monitors to detect chlorine gas leaks.  The CRWP purchases DOT approved cylinders.  In the event of a chlorine gas leak, filter plant personnel have been instructed to call the local HAZMAT team for emergency response.  They will monitor wind direction and estimate the amount of chlorine in the cylinder at the time of the release. The worst case scenario would be a loss of 2,000 lbs. of chlorine gas, which would yield a toxic endpoint distance of 3.0 miles(4.9 kilometers).  T 
he alternative scenario would yield a toxic endpoint distance of 0.6 miles (1.0 kilometers).  The CRWP has not had an incident involving chlorine in the past 5 years.  CMD will continue to upgrade the chlorination process with the latest controls as they become available and feasible to implement.
Click to return to beginning