Client: Hospital

Location: Kansas

Solution: PCB Filtration

Industry: Facilities

Overview

A local hospital in Wichita, Kansas was experiencing ground water contaminated with PCBs and hydraulic oil seeping into the bottom of an elevator shaft where a sump pump was located. The hospital had been pumping the contaminated (PCB and hydraulic oil) elevator sump water into 55-gallon drums and disposing the drums through a hazardous waste vendor. The hospital contracted MyCelx distributor of Wichita, Kansas to develop a more cost effective and efficient method of disposing of the contaminated water. In the summer of 2006, contacted MyCelx Technologies Corporation to determine the efficacy of MyCelx filters for removal of PCBs and hydraulic oils from water. MyCelx Technologies not only had the filter media required, but the knowledge to accommodate iSi in their request to design a filtering system.

The Problem

The elevator sump pumped approximately 5 to 7 gallons of contaminated water per day into a 55-gallon drum. The goal was to design a filtering system to remove the oil and PCB from the contaminated water so the effluent could be disposed of into the sanitary sewer system. The small system needed to fit into a confined area. The challenge was to treat the hydraulic oil concentration (as TPH) of 10,000mg/l (ppm) and PCBs concentration of 1,000ug/l (ppb). The TPH discharge limit was not established, but the PCB discharge limit was 3ug/l (ppb).

The Solution

MyCelx Technologies recommended a 4-stage system (in series) to initially remove the bulk of the oil in Stage 1, the particles in Stage 2, and finally “polish” the contaminants in Stages 3 and 4. iSi designed the pump, piping, gauges, valves and water storage vessels to connect to the MyCelx treatment vessels. The treated water was initially stored in 55-gallon drums until the samples were analyzed and determined to meet discharge limits.

The Results

The system was installed in September 2006 and continues to meet the discharge requirement of less than 3 ppb for PCBs.