Carthage Water and Electric Plant - Executive Summary |
|
Carthage Water and Electrics' Water Treatment Plant is a 4MGD facility. Our water supply comes from 12 deep wells, with two more wells to be added in the summer of 1999. Our water treatment consists of aeration, the addition of lime for softening, flouride, chlorine and ammonia. We add the ammonia after the chlorine to form chloramines for disinfection purposes. We have four rapid sand filters that are sand only. The substance for which we are filing this report is Chlorine. We have the capability of storing up to 6000 lbs. at any one time. We normally range from 3500 to 5500 pounds on hand. Our chlorine is received in ton containers and stored on racks. The racks are located on the Southeast corner, outside of our filter building with a canopy to cover them. They are otherwise exposed to the atmosphere. The chlorine is drawn in to the chlorine room by lines that run from the automatic switch-over valves to our vacuum regulator. At this point the gas is combined with water to form an aqueous chlorine solution. This solution is delivered into our water via a 1" poly hose to an injection nozzle located on our lower level of our filter building. Our facility is located on the northeast edge of the town of Carthage. In the immediate vicinity of our facility are several residences to the west, two factories, one to the north and the other to the northeast, the Vocational Technical building for Carthage public schools located to the southwest, a state park and a city park both to the south. Prevailing winds are from the south. In order to decrease the chances for a possible leak at our facility we have implemented several administrative control measures. It is standard policy that any time that the chlorine tanks are changed out that two people are present. With our syste m this is the time that has the highest risk of a release of chlorine. All operators receive training on the proper techniques for changing cylinders. We change out cylinders on average once every 28 days. Our facility also uses a vacuum system to deliver our chlorine. This minimizes the chance of leaking lines. Other administrative controls include hands on training in the use of SCBA's (self contained breathing apparatus), installing the class "B" leak repair kit to the ton cylinders, proper operation of the chlorine feed system and procedures to follow if a leak should occur. We have two SCBA's located in immediate vicinity of the chlorine tanks and another one located at the warehouse which is approximately 100 yards from the treatment facility. We have a chlorine alarm that is equipped with two sensors. One is located in the chlorine room and the other is located in the basement where the chlorine solution is fed into the water line. These alarms are tested on a monthly basis for proper operation. The alarm has a flashing red light as well as an audible alarm. The alarm is also indicated by a red light on our operating control panel located in our laboratory. It is standard procedure to test the operation of automatic switch-over valves when we change out cylinders. On average this occurs every 28 days. Other control procedures that we have incorporated into our facility are to review the MSDS (material safety data sheets) on a regular basis. We review health effects and proper procedure for contacting emergency personnel and update our Emergency Operating Procedures on a 6 month basis. We have incorporated periodic training into our schedule. Our latest training session included the following. 1) Discussion of our Chlorine system including the vacuum feed and ton cylinder change out procedure. 2) Proper use and instilation of the level B repair kit for various leak scenarios. 3) Discussion of RMP including worst case and alternative scenarios, evacuation procedures and emergency response. 4)Discussion by fire department personnel on personel protective equipment and proper use and operation of SCBA ( self contained breathing apparatus) This training was held in conjunction with Carthage Water and Electric, Carthage Fire Department and Carthage Police Department personnel. We are also located in close proximity to Crowder College in Neosho, MO. It is a training facility that holds training sessions on such topics as chlorine safety, confined space entry and other courses that pertain to chlorine. We regularly send someone to courses that are useful to our facility. We then use that knowledge to train our other employees. In the last five years there has been no accident involving chlorine release at this facility. We have had a cylinder valve that would not shut off. This was discovered in the testing of the automatic switch-over valve. The tank was le ft on line and emptied into the water supply by normal use. The ton cylinder supplier was notified of the problem and the tank was tagged as having a problem with the valves operation. In our last review of procedure and equipment it was noted that there needs to be an audible alarm associated with the red light in our laboratory. This will be done in a timely manner. |