Barnes Rural Water Customer Success Story

PROBLEM

Barnes Rural Water serves approximately 1600 customers daily in the Valley City, ND area with over 1200 miles of pipeline, 10 tanks and 9 reservoirs each with 150,000 gallons of well water. Over the years, Barnes Rural Water District Manager, Perry Kapaun, noticed that a build up of iron and manganese in the pipes, tanks and filters was consuming all of the available chlorine and adversely affecting system performance.

“It was taking too long to get a decent chlorine residual. We began adding even more chlorine and flushed more. Our system was running too weak, and it seemed like we didn’t have the right equipment anymore,” said Kapaun.

Barnes Rural Water received a grant from the state to upgrade their water system. Rather than replacing costly equipment, they turned to long-time supplier and distributor, Hawkins, Inc. for a solution to improve their residuals and clean their infrastructure. Hawkins recommended cleaning their distribution system with Blue Earth Labs’ products – Clearitas®, Filter Fit® and Top Ultra® – to improve chlorine residuals and system performance.

“We’ve worked with Hawkins for over 40 years, and with their deep expertise in the water treatment industry, we wholeheartedly trust their judgment. We took their recommendation for Blue Earth Labs without hesitation, “ said Kapaun. “At the end of the day, we need good, quality potable water for our customers, so it was important to work these solutions into our budget.”

SOLUTION

In the winter of 2013, Barnes Rural Water cleaned all 10 tanks off-line using Blue Earth Labs’ Top Ultra chemical tank cleaning product.

“After only 6-8 hours, our tanks looked like they day they were born,” said Kapaun.

Three filters in Barnes Rural Water were fouled, which led to decreased run times. After applying Filter Fit to their greensand filters, the product effectively removed the build up of manganese and iron.

In addition, they turned to Clearitas scale removal solution to gradually eliminate the thick iron and manganese biofilm that had also accumulated in their distribution system. Clearitas 101 was fed to their system starting at 2 parts per million and gradually increased to 11 parts per million. They observed almost immediate results. After the initial cleaning process, Barnes Rural Water was able to scale back the Clearitas 101 to a maintenance dosage to prevent future build-up.

“It works. Period,” said Kapaun.

RESULTS

Barnes Rural Water has experienced a dramatic improvement in their chlorine demand since cleaning their system with Blue Earth Labs’ products. They have reduced the amount of chlorine required due to chemically removing the iron and manganese scale build up. They have also rehabilitated their filters and restored their aging tanks to their initial level of performance.

Problem Barnes Rural Water serves approximately 1600 customers daily in the Valley City, ND area with over 1200 miles of pipeline, 10 tanks and 9 reservoirs each with 150,000 gallons of well water. Over the years, Barnes Rural Water District Manager, Perry Kapaun, noticed that a build up of iron and manganese in the pipes, tanks and filters was consuming all of the available chlorine and adversely affecting system performance. “It was taking too long to get a decent chlorine residual. We began adding even more chlorine and flushed more. Our system was running too weak, and it seemed like we didn’t have the right equipment anymore,” said Kapaun. Barnes Rural Water received a grant from the state to upgrade their water system. Rather than replacing costly equipment, they turned to long-time supplier and distributor, Hawkins, Inc. for a solution to improve their residuals and clean their infrastructure. Hawkins recommended cleaning their distribution system with Blue Earth Labs’ products – Clearitas®, Filter Fit® and Top Ultra® – to improve chlorine residuals and system performance. “We’ve worked with Hawkins for over 40 years, and with their deep expertise in the water treatment industry, we wholeheartedly trust their judgment. We took their recommendation for Blue Earth Labs without hesitation, “ said Kapaun. “At the end of the day, we need good, quality potable water for our customers, so it was important to work these solutions into our budget.” Solution In the winter of 2013, Barnes Rural Water cleaned all 10 tanks off-line using Blue Earth Labs’ Top Ultra chemical tank cleaning product. “After only 6-8 hours, our tanks looked like they day they were born,” said Kapaun. Three filters in Barnes Rural Water were fouled, which led to decreased run times. After applying Filter Fit to their greensand filters, the product effectively removed the build up of manganese and iron. In addition, they turned to Clearitas scale removal solution to gradually eliminate the thick iron and manganese biofilm that had also accumulated in their distribution system. Clearitas 101 was fed to their system starting at 2 parts per million and gradually increased to 11 parts per million. They observed almost immediate results. After the initial cleaning process, Barnes Rural Water was able to scale back the Clearitas 101 to a maintenance dosage to prevent future build-up. “It works. Period,” said Kapaun. Results Barnes Rural Water has experienced a dramatic improvement in their chlorine demand since cleaning their system with Blue Earth Labs’ products. They have reduced the amount of chlorine required due to chemically removing the iron and manganese scale build up. They have also rehabilitated their filters and restored their aging tanks to their initial level of performance.