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Dare County, North Carolina, is located on the Mid-Atlantic seaboard of theUnited States. It is a county that consists primarily of water, and its land areais largely composed of barrier islands. Hatteras Island is the most southerly ofthe land area. Hatteras Island is home to large tracts of federally owned land,so the growth has been limited to the three villages of Rodanthe-Waves-Salvo,Avon, and the southern end of the island. Since about 1968, the residents of Avonat the southern end of Hatteras Island have had access to a potable water system.This system was originally owned and operated by the Cape Hatteras WaterAssociation (CHWA), a user-owned cooperative utility. The source of water hasbeen a shallow (40'-8O') well field located in an area known as Buxton Woods. Thecurrent water treatment system has been in operation since February of 2000,replacing the former 1.6 million gallons per day system which dated from 1986.The CHWA tried in the early 1990s to expand the well field to meet future demand,and conducted several studies and pilot tests in order to bring the water qualityinto compliance with the then current drinking water standards. However, the wellfield expansion was challenged on environmental grounds, since the well field islocated in a sensitive maritime forest, and also the State determined that thewell field was "groundwater under the influence." These two factors severelylimited the ability of the CHWA treatment plant to meet or exceed the primarystandards for drinking water quality, and to supply the quantity of water neededfor the continued growth in the service area. A 1992 study provided an overviewof the treatment options available that would permit CHWA a reasonableopportunity of compliance with then current standards, and those upcoming in thefuture, both known and speculative. The report covered both inadequacies of thecurrent treatment process, and process options for future compliance. It did nothowever address the question of raw water resources. And, in addition totreatment shortcomings, the transmission and distribution system was barelyadequate to serve existing customers. This paper describes the design andoperation of a reverse osmosis brackish groundwater desalination plant forHatteras Island. Includes tables, figures.

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Edition: Vol. - No. Published: 05/01/2001 Number of Pages: 8 File Size: 1 file , 230 KB