Photo By Airman 1st Class Victoria Moehlman | Water is extracted from a rebuild site at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, July 24,...... read more read more
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As Tyndall continues to grow into the Installation of the Future, ensuring the quality of groundwater across the installation is an important consideration that the Air Force and contractors are taking seriously by extracting, treating and testing potentially contaminated water while still rebuilding the base.
Removing ground water during Tyndall’s rebuild is a necessary step in order to maintain a dry and stable surface for concrete building foundations, pipe installation and other infrastructures such as water, fire, gas and electric would be installed. The rebuild provides an opportune time for groundwater to be treated for chemicals before it is returned into the environment.
John Dillon, Air Force Civil Engineer Center natural disaster recovery division project engineer, explained that the treatment of groundwater was necessary to ensure the health of the soil and reduce any negative impacts to the environment caused by contaminants. Additionally, completing the treatment on-site here is more cost-effective and will lead to a better environment overall.
Treatment of the water is a multistep process involving several agencies developing a thorough plan for the contaminated area. The Air Force, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Environmental Protection Agency all review the plans before the process begins, ensuring the water that will ultimately be returned meets established standards.
“When doing subsurface work here …the installation restoration program site zones, must [be] treated before returning [the water] back into the ground. The treatment system is set up using a series of filters and treatment media,” said Dillon. “IRP zone water is pumped from the ground…into 20,000-gallon frac tanks. The water is then pumped through a prefilter before going through granular activated carbon and an ion exchange media to remove any potential contaminants to the required levels. The clean water is then tested and once cleared can be infiltrated back into the same IRP zone.”
Dan Morak, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lead quality assurance representative, stated there are multiple different ways to distribute the water that has been treated back to the ground from where it was pulled from. Water distribution is completed either by using a water truck that sprays water on the ground for dust control or wells used to inject the clean water back into the ground.
Treatment of more than 10 million gallons of water is already complete, with another 5 million more expected throughout the remainder of the rebuild. Removing contaminants provides Tyndall Airmen, their families and anyone working on the base a safe environment now and into the future.
Morak stressed, “We want to leave things better than we found it.” He expressed that treating the ground water is the right thing to do and will improve the environment by providing clean water for green spaces and surrounding areas. The treated water, once placed back into the ground, will flow naturally, benefiting the environment and wildlife.
| Date Taken: | 07.24.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 08.01.2024 19:44 |
| Story ID: | 477596 |
| Location: | TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 226 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Filtering water on Tyndall Air Force Base, by A1C Victoria Moehlman, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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