Catskill-Delaware Water Ultraviolet Disinfection Facility

The Catskill-Delaware Water Ultraviolet Disinfection Facility is a 160,000-square-foot (15,000 m²) ultraviolet (UV) water disinfection plant built in Westchester County, New York to disinfect water for the New York City water supply system.^[1] The compound is the largest ultraviolet germicidal irradiation plant in the world.^[2]

Catskill-Delaware Water Ultraviolet Disinfection Facility
Etymology	Catskill Aqueduct, Delaware Aqueduct
General information
Status	Completed
Type	Water treatment facility
Town or city	Westchester County, New York
Country	US
Coordinates	41.078°N 73.8088°W / 41.078; -73.8088
Completed	2013
Cost	$1.6 billion USD
Owner	City of New York
Management	New York City Department of Environmental Protection
Grounds	160,000-square-foot (15,000 m2)
Design and construction
Main contractor	Trojan Technologies

The UV facility treats water delivered by two of the city's aqueduct systems, the Catskill Aqueduct and the Delaware Aqueduct, via the Kensico Reservoir.^[3] (The city's third supply system, the New Croton Aqueduct, has a separate treatment plant.^[4])

The plant has 56 energy-efficient UV reactors, and cost the city $1.6 billion. Mayor Michael Bloomberg created research groups between 2004-2006 to decide the best and most cost-effective ways to modernize the city's water filtration process, as a secondary stage following the existing chlorination and fluoridation facilities. The UV technology effectively controls microorganisms such as giardia and cryptosporidium which are resistant to chlorine treatment.^[5] The city staff determined that the cheapest alternatives to a UV system would cost over $3 billion. In response to this finding, Bloomberg decided to set up a public competitive contract auction. Ontario based Trojan Technologies won the contract.^[6]

The facility treats 2.2 billion U.S. gallons (8.3 billion liters) of water per day. The new facility was originally set to be in operation by the end of 2012.^[6][7] The facility opened on October 8, 2013.^[8]

References

1. "Catskill-Delaware Water Ultraviolet Disinfection Facility". New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP). Archived from the original on September 6, 2012.
2. "Trojan Technologies Wins New York City Drinking Water UV Project" (PDF). London, ON: Trojan Technologies. November 2, 2005.
3. Rueb, Emily S. (2016-03-24). "How New York Gets Its Water". The New York Times.
4. "Croton Water Filtration Plant Activated". NYCDEP. May 8, 2015. Press release.
5. Korich DG, Mead JR, Madore MS, Sinclair NA, Sterling CR (May 1990). "Effects of ozone, chlorine dioxide, chlorine, and monochloramine on Cryptosporidium parvum oocyst viability". Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 56 (5): 1423–8. Bibcode:1990ApEnM..56.1423K. doi:10.1128/aem.56.5.1423-1428.1990. PMC 184422. PMID 2339894.
6. "Municipal Drinking Water - Multi-barrier Disinfection Strategy, New York City (Case Study)". Trojan Technologies. Archived from the original on August 15, 2012. Retrieved September 1, 2012.
7. Greenemeier, Larry (August 31, 2012). "Turning on the Zap: New York City Readies World's Largest UV Drinking-Water Disinfection Plant". Scientific American.
8. "NYC Catskill-Delaware UV Facility Opening Ceremony". Trojan Technologies. Archived from the original on 2015-06-13.