Compact, high-efficiency system helps Arrowhead Regional Medical Center achieve reliability and significant cost savings in potable water supply

Envirogen Technologies Inc. announced the successful start-up of a new treatment system that will produce potable water from perchlorate-laden groundwater for a major hospital facility in San Bernardino County, Calif. Located in Colton, Calif., the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center is a state-of-the-art 373-bed facility owned and operated by the County of San Bernardino. The new Envirogen system has allowed the hospital to realize significant cost savings by limiting its dependence on the City of Colton for its water supply. Under a 10-year services agreement with the County, Envirogen will provide all warranty and maintenance services for the treatment system while its operation is handled by medical center personnel.

According to Orlando Carreño, Vice President, West Region for Envirogen, the new system is another strong example of the company’s focus on delivering versatile drinking water solutions to meet specific customer needs. “Envirogen’s expertise at designing high-efficiency, custom-designed smaller systems was put to good use at this site to attain real cost and operating benefits for the County,” Carreño said. “By solving the perchlorate-contamination problem with this well and offering a lifecycle performance approach to the installation, Envirogen Technologies is offering the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center a reliable and lower-cost source of quality drinking water today and into the future,” he continued.

Due to the perchlorate contamination, output from the County’s Pepper Street Well has been limited to non-potable uses since the State of California’s adoption, in 2007, of a 6 parts per billion (ppb) maximum contaminant level (MCL) for perchlorate. The 600 gpm-capacity treatment system, designed and supplied by Envirogen, consists of two compact mobile units and utilizes high-efficiency ion exchange technology to reduce perchlorate levels to below the EPA or California Department of Public Health MCL of 6 ppb. Along with the environmental benefits of reclaiming a local water source, the system utilizes no chemicals in the treatment process and does not require electricity to operate, further reducing costs and environmental impact for the County. 

According to Carreño, the importance of optimizing groundwater resources cannot be overstated for this region, especially at a time when economic and environmental considerations are impacting how public water authorities and local governments operate. “We feel that the Arrowhead Medical Center treatment system is a creative answer to the need for more efficient groundwater utilization, as well as the challenges of managing a large public facility’s utility costs,” he said. “At Envirogen, we look forward to our continuing role in this kind of creative solution for all of our customers, towards helping them achieve their goal of ‘worry-free water’,” he added.

Perchlorate is a toxic component of rocket and missile fuel and is also present in fireworks, ammunition, safety flares, matches, automobile air bags and is naturally occurring in certain fertilizers. This contaminant has generated increasing concern in recent years for its presence in drinking water supplies in 25 states and its effect on human health, and is of particular concern in California due to its prevalence in the groundwater of this region.