Photo By Eric Pilgrim | An employee monitors the treatment process with a digital control panel in the front...... read more read more
FORT KNOX, Ky. — Officials from Fort Knox and Hardin County Water District 1 gathered Muldraugh Water Treatment Plant Aug. 8 to celebrate its grand opening.
Armed with a pair of scissors, Fort Knox Directorate of Public Works director Jason Root cut a blue ribbon stretched across two beams, marking the occasion.
“This is about utility independence. It’s also about quality water for our Soldiers, their families and anyone who comes here to Fort Knox,” said Root. “We can produce our own water on the garrison, which makes us resilient.”
Though the plant has been in the business of purifying water for Fort Knox and the town of Muldraugh since the 1940s, Hardin County Water District 1 general manager Stephen Hogan said the modernized plant provides far more than it was capable of before.
“We started in 2007 with our Utility Privatization Contract, which made us partners with Fort Knox,” said Hogan. “After four or five years of planning and studying of the existing water system, they came up with improvements with both water quality and quantity.”
The water is drawn from water fields in nearby West Point, where sedimentation is removed and it begins the process of being treated. There are several steps along the way, including the use of alum and lime to clarify the water.
A third step is the use of chloramine disinfectant.
Hogan said one of the improvements at the plant was switching to chloramine from chlorine. According to him, chloramine brings the plant online with surrounding plants, which allows for consistency in water quality and use. It also provides longer lasting disinfection in the distribution system.
With the addition of the 1.5 million gallon water tanks that Hardin County Water District 1 recently constructed on post, the chloramines provide for longer storage of water.
“It’s more widely recognized in the area,” said Hogan. “It’s also safer.”
Another improvement is the technology built into the system. A digital control panel in the front hallway of the plant allows employees to monitor the process and analyze various stages at their fingertips.
Hogan explained that the new plant can produce up to 7 million gallons of water a day, as a result.
“Fort Knox does not have the demand for that; the demand is somewhere around a million-and-a-half, or 2 million,” said Hogan. “But now we’re in a position where we could produce whatever Fort Knox throws at us.”
Root said the heart of the installation’s water excellence lies in the relationship Fort Knox has with Hardin County Water District 1.
“They are amazing partners,” said Root. “This is some of the best quality water that you will find anywhere, and water is life.”
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Editor’s note: For more information on the renovation of the facility check out this article - https://www.army.mil/article/253928/fort_knoxs_primary_water_treatment_plant_resumes_operations
| Date Taken: | 08.12.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 08.16.2022 12:40 |
| Story ID: | 427345 |
| Location: | FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 81 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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