Sewage Effluent in Use as Power
Plant Circulating Water
F. C. Humphreys, Assistant Chief Engineer
The Zia Company
Los Alamos, New Mexico
The city of Los Alamos is located in the north central section of
New Mexico at an approximate elevation of 7,400 ft. The climate
ranges from semi-arid to arid. The water supply has at times been
critical and has always been given top consideration in any engineering
study. The use of sewage effluent in this town is probably one of the
very few, if not the only instance, where planned reclamation was designed into the original plant.
The Atomic Energy Commission owns and administrates the laboratory and the town housing and commercial areas. The Los Alamos
Scientific Laboratory is operated by the University of California under
contract to the AEC. The Zia Corporation is a contractor for AEC.
The Zia Company operates and maintains the water, gas, and electric
utilities as well as the sewage system.
The water supply at Los Alamos comes mainly from two well
fields. A small percentage of the water comes from surface sources in
the Jemez Mountains. The well fields are located some distance away
and are at approximately 2,000 ft lower elevation. Booster pumps are
located at strategic points to boost the water into the distribution mains.
This operation is costly, and consequently every effort has been taken
to conserve water and to reduce its use to a minimum amount. The
annual average cost of operation and maintenance is 28 cents per 1,000
gals. This does not include fixed charges or amortization. The other
critical feature of the water system is the possibility of depleting the
underground sources. This is a long-range problem, but it has been given
serious consideration in the overall planning and design by the AEC.
The AEC directed its design engineering firm to design and equip a
power plant that would utilize effluent from the existing standard rate
trickling filter plants. The effluent would be used as circulating water
in the turbine condensers and cooling towers.
Specialized equipment that was installed to treat this water consisted in part of two chlorinators. One unit is float-controlled and feeds
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