Water Treatment Test Underway

Under a mandate from the State of Florida to reduce chlorine compounds in Cedar Key's drinking water, the Cedar Key Water and Sewer district has begun a test of a water purification system similar to that used in Palatka, Florida. General Electric Water and Process, a division of General Electric has installed a small pilot system that can purify three hundred thousand gallons per day. The output of the system will be tested over a thirty day period to find if the local problem can be reduced to levels acceptable to State authorities.

The expeerimental water treatment system which is monitored by telephone line.

According to John Herring, a G.E. representative, the system became operative September 23, and samples for water quality will begin to be taken this week. The system uses pressure to separate organic material from the water, thereby removing the substrate for chlorine atoms to become attached to.

Many communities in Florida face the problem of chlorine compounds in their water. (The contaminants result from chlorination necessary to kill bacteria in the water.) Although there are several methods of reducing the contaminant, several other methods have been rejected by the Cedar Key Water and Sewer District because of undesirable taste or other factors.

Mr. Herring said that it is too early to tell the cost of using the G.E. system. However, to treat the entire Cedar Key water supply will require a system approximately ten times the size of the pilot system.