Geren Island Water Treatment Plant Improvements Project
Online Tour of Ozone Treatment and Other Improvements
Salem’s Water System Serves a Population of
over 197,500 Daily from the North Santiam River
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Take Our Tour of Salem’s Geren Island Treatment Plant Projects
Simply click on a tour stop button to follow the stops along the site map.
TOUR STOP 01
Salem’s Strategy for a Resilient Water Future
Salem is investing over $50 million for the design and construction of a state-of-the art ozone treatment facility and other improvements at Geren Island to ensure our community has safe and resilient drinking water long into the future.
Project Benefits
We’re Making Great Progress
Ozone treatment will be online in Late Summer 2021 to provide an added layer of protection against future fires and algae blooms. A new groundwater collector system is anticipated to be complete in Spring 2022. It will provide a second source of water during storm events that can make the river water muddy.
Carollo Engineers, known as one of the nation’s top water quality engineering firms, is designing the ozone treatment system. Slayden Construction of Stayton, Oregon is handling the construction, providing jobs that benefit our local economy.
AKS Engineering and Forestry is providing project management and inspection services.
TOUR STOP 02
The Water Intake: The Starting Point for the Geren Island Treatment Facility
Salem relies on the North Santiam River as its single source of drinking water. The North Santiam River Watershed is roughly 760 square miles and surrounded by state and national forest. It provides clean river water for many canyon communities along its route.
North Santiam River water flows into the Geren Island Water Treatment Facility through intake screening structure on the North Santiam River. It is a fish-friendly system, designed to protect our fish populations and prevent debris from getting into the water treatment facility.
Watch video of the intake
TOUR STOP 03
The Channel: Temporary Improvements Currently Safeguard Against Cyanotoxins
Water is conveyed through channels to the slow sand filters at Geren Island. These slow sand filters are proven technology that work well with the high-quality water from the North Santiam River.
Unfortunately, recent changes in the quality of the river water have created challenges. Warmer water and recent wildfires appear to be producing more algal blooms.
Effective Barriers of Protection
To remove potentially harmful algal toxins, known as cyanotoxins, we added an extra barrier of protection in 2018. These temporary improvements include:
Watch video of the channel
These have been highly effective. During the 2019 and 2020 cyanotoxin seasons, they eliminated cyanotoxins that entered the treatment plant. They will be in place until the ozone treatment is online.
TOUR STOP 04
State-of-the-Art Ozone Treatment: An Added Layer of Protection to Keep Our Water Safe
Ozone treatment is our long-term strategy to give Salem the tools to sustainably manage cyanotoxins and safeguard the water supply for generations to come. Ozone is one of the strongest disinfectants used for treating drinking water – even stronger than chlorine.
General Benefits of Ozone Treatment
Watch video of the ozone contactor under construction
Watch video of the ozone generator facility under construction
Watch video of the electrical building under construction
Benefits of Ozone Treatment After a Fire in the Watershed
Damage from wildfires can lead to soil erosion that can impact water quality and contribute to the growth of algae in the North Santiam River watershed. The new ozone treatment solution will address multiple water quality issues related to fire in the watershed.
Modern, Proven Ozone Water Treatment Will Be Online Late Summer 2021
Ozone is commonly used in modern water treatment plants nationally and locally at the Lake Oswego Tigard Water Treatment Plant, Medford, and Wilsonville. Ozone is also being planned for all modern treatment facilities currently under design in the region.
State-of-the-Art Technology
Our design and construction partners, Carollo and Slayden have used state-of-the-art construction technology in the construction of this system. This includes using 3D modeling and other tools.
Ozone System Project Timeline
- Spring 2020: Groundbreaking for Ozone System
- Late Summer 2021: Ozone System Online
How Ozone Treatment Works
Ozone will be added as one of the treatment steps to remove algae and other toxins. Ozone is commonly used in modern water treatment plants nationally and locally at the Lake Oswego Tigard Water Treatment Plant, Medford, and Wilsonville. Ozone is also being planned for all modern treatment facilities currently under design in the region.
Step 1.
Oxygen Supply: Ozone is made from oxygen. We are using super-cooled liquid oxygen. The liquid oxygen is first turned into oxygen gas. The oxygen gas is then processed in an "ozone generator."
Step 2.
Ozone Generation: The "ozone generator" uses an electric charge to turn oxygen gas into ozone gas. Once formed, ozone gas moves on to a chamber where it dissolves into the water to begin cleaning our water.
Step 3.
Ozone Injection and Contactor: In the "contactor" chamber, ozone gas dissolves into the water. Here, it destroys cyanotoxins (if they are there) and breaks down material that can make water look, taste or smell undesirable.
Step 4.
Dissolved Ozone: Under normal operating conditions all of the dissolved ozone is used in the treatment process. If all the dissolved ozone isn't used up, it will go through a process to turn it back into safe oxygen gas.
Step 5.
Gaseous Ozone: Some of the dissolved ozone will naturally turn back into ozone gas inside the treatment chamber. An "ozone gas destruction unit" above the treatment chamber turns the ozone gas into safe, pure oxygen, before discharging into the atmosphere.
TOUR STOP 05
Corrosion Control and Chlorine: Multi-barriers Protect Our Water Even More
Even after we’re done with these steps, the water goes through additional treatment to ensure our water has the highest standards of water quality.
Chlorine
Once the water is filtered it is treated with chlorine to make sure it is safe all the way to the tap.
Corrosion Control Treatment
Corrosion control treatment is used to make the water less corrosive to lead and other metals found in home and building plumbing as required by state and federal regulations.
This protects people’s health by limiting exposure to lead leaching into drinking water. If present, elevated levels of lead can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women and young children.
Fluoride
Fluoride is added to Salem's water to protect children’s health and prevent cavities. This was approved by Salem voters in 1964.
Frequently Asked Questions
Special Thanks and Appreciation to the Teams at:
