A coal-fired power plant in Northwest Colorado faced a critical wastewater management issue. The facility’s large industrial water retention pond was dangerously close to overflowing, posing an imminent risk of an uncontained spill. The plant had resorted to stacking sandbags as a temporary barrier to raise the pond’s edges.
However, this was insufficient for long-term management– the sandbags only bought time and did not address the rising water level, which was nearing its breaking point. The operations team needed an immediate and reliable way to reduce the pond’s volume before an overflow could occur, which would threaten environmental compliance and plant operations.
Solution:
MPW Industrial Water Services responded with the rapid deployment of a Mobile UF/RO (Ultrafiltration/Reverse Osmosis) water treatment system to the site. Within 14 days of the initial contact, MPW delivered the single mobile trailer unit, installed it, and made it fully operational. The mobile UF/RO system is a self-contained water purification solution that combines ultrafiltration (UF) and reverse osmosis (RO) in one platform.
Once online, the system began pumping water from the overloaded pond and treating it on-site. In the first stage, the ultrafiltration unit removes suspended solids and particulate matter from the pond water, preventing fouling of the RO membranes. Next, the reverse osmosis unit filters out dissolved contaminants including salts, producing high-quality water for reuse on site.
The integrated UF/RO approach ensured that even trace contaminants (for example, minerals, metals, or other impurities common in power plant wastewater) were filtered out, allowing the plant to meet strict water quality criteria. MPW’s field technicians provided around-the-clock support, quickly optimizing the system settings to the pond’s water chemistry. The mobile unit’s swift setup and automated operation meant the plant could immediately start reducing the pond level without constructing permanent infrastructure or interrupting plant productivity.
Results:
The mobile solution from MPW Industrial water was able to be on-site and treating the pond water within two weeks of being notified of the issue. After two weeks of operation, the pond level had dropped by approximately 20%, pulling the water level away from the sandbags and alleviating the immediate risk of overflow.
This solution ensured compliance with environmental regulations while also providing an environmentally friendly and cost-effective solution by re-using the retention pond water. The system continues to run and reduce the pond level and discussions on a long-term solution are underway.