By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson City Council approved Tuesday a study of the City's Reverse Osmosis Wastestream Disposal Options.
"The city gets our raw water from 17 groundwater wells," said director of public works Brian Clennan. "Three of those wells are remediation wells that pump contaminated groundwater to our RO treatment plant where the contaminants are removed and then we're able to use that water in our water system. 25% of that RO treated water comes out as a concentrated brine that is then sent back to our two disposal wells. There's a second pipeline that comes from the RO treatment plant. It's following the Grandview Industrial big ditch all the way until it gets to the two deep disposal wells. That concentrated waste stream is injected into the Arbuckle Formation which is 4800 feet below the level of the ground."
There has been a concern expressed about the entry of fluids overall into the Arbuckle Formation and how it may have an effect on seismicity in the state.
"No one has blamed the city of Hutch for causing any of the seismic activity that we've seen in this area," Clennan said. "There are numerous Class I wells and Class II wells in Reno County and throughout the state of Kansas. However, there is always the potential for new regulation or requirements associated with operating these two deep disposal wells."
Between those concerns and the fact that KDHE is saying that the water isn't as bad as it was when the wells were dug and that putting the water along with the wastewater effluent through the big ditch may be a viable option rather than putting it below ground, the study was found to be a useful activity by the council.
"There's several challenges to this project," Clennan said. "One is we're going to have to evaluate the chloride concentrations and make sure that the amount of chlorides is not too great to discharge into the Arkansas River. We're going to need to figure out a way to eliminate the volatile organic compounds before we dump that water into the GVI channel. We're also going to have to look at and develop water quality triggers."
That means if the water quality deteriorates past the point where it is safe to discharge into the river, then they would have to switch back to putting it in the disposal wells. The study with Burns and McDonnell is a not to exceed contract with an amount of $90,599.