The additional process that the effluent goes through at SERF removes the silica so that the water can be used in cooling towers for the Metropolis Center, the Laboratory's supercomputing complex. Northern New Mexico has one of the worst dissolved silica problems in the country. Silica naturally occurs in areas of high volcanic activity. Silica causes problems in cooling towers because it lowers the cooling efficiency by coating the fins of the towers and must be removed.
The $4.5 million facility removes enough silica so that the water can be reused. Once the silica is removed and filtered off as sludge that goes to the landfill, the reclaimed water is then ready to be used in the cooling towers at the Metropolis Supercomputing Center. The water can be reused up to four times, saving the Laboratory nearly 21 million gallons of water a year, historically obtained from the Los Alamos County aquifers. Of the water that is treated, only 2 percent ends up as sludge or evaporates.
Initially the cycle begins with treated sanitary wastewater pumped to the SERF and stored in a 500,000-gallon water tank. The water is then treated to remove the silica passing it through microfiltration, followed by reverse osmosis. The water is then blended with sanitary effluent in a 2 to 1 ratio and sent to the cooling towers at the Metropolis Center. After being used through four cycles, the water is discharged into a permitted outfall in Sandia Canyon.
The facility is one of the first of its kind in the DOE complex. While the technology is well established, it is usually used for economic reasons, however this was done to protect the important water resource. One third of the Laboratory's water is used in cooling towers to keep computers and equipment at optimum operating temperatures.
"The new state-of-the-art facility was not about money, but about environmental stewardship and supporting the mission," Nuclear Waste and Infrastructure Support Division Leader Tony Stanford said. "The Laboratory is committed to sustainable, improved water use practices that protect our valuable resources and meet the mission of stockpile stewardship."
The facility takes only two people to operate it and has been built with expansion in mind. Facility operators and Laboratory managers are planning future expansions to other areas of the Laboratory that could save an additional 20 million gallons a year.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and the Washington Division of URS for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.