Land and water resources development company Cadiz, water treatment company ATEC Systems Associates, and international engineering firm CH2M have announced a strategic alliance agreement for the expanded use of a California Division of Drinking Water-approved technology for the treatment and removal of Chromium-6 (CR-6) from drinking water supplies.
The partners say the ATEC technology will also enable the economical treatment of water made available by the Cadiz Valley Water Conservation, Recovery & Storage Project for naturally occurring CR-6 prior to its entering the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s Colorado River Aqueduct, the proposed primary water transportation conduit to the project’s participating water providers.
After considering various treatment strategies, Cadiz engaged ATEC to conduct pilot treatment tests at its existing wells. Pilot tests at the Cadiz Water Project area were overseen by CH2M and subsequently peer reviewed by multiple drinking water professionals. The results demonstrate that the ATEC technology can cost-effectively remove CR-6 at the wellhead to a level substantially below the new California CR-6 standard. A secondary benefit of the new treatment technology is the removal of arsenic, although project water is already below current arsenic standards.
ATEC’s says its technology is also applicable to many similar groundwater basins in California and elsewhere. Through the strategic alliance, Cadiz, ATEC and CH2M will work to present the technology to other water providers that must comply with the new standard in an effective and cost-effective manner, the companies say.
