Water Exclosure Treatment System (WETS): An innovative device for minimizing beach closures

• Published in: The Science of the total environment 2018-06, Vol.625, p.809-818
• Main Authors: Reimer, John R., Wu, Chin H., Sorsa, Kirsti K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bathing Beaches; Environmental Monitoring; Escherichia coli; Filtration; Lakes; Microalgae; Water Microbiology; Water Purification - methods; Water Quality; Wisconsin
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.12.330

•A Water Exclosure Treatment System was designed and implemented in an inland beach.•WETS consists of “exclosure” and treatment sub-systems.•WETS promotes social-economic benefits for increasing beach user activities.•WETS reduces turbidity levels inside the exclosure to 15 times less than outside.•WETS reduces E. coli, and Cylindrospermopsis sp. to 30, and 16 times less. [Display omitted] A Water Exclosure Treatment System (WETS) is developed and installed to minimize the occurrence of beach closures due to algae and Escherchia coli (E. coli) in an inland lake. WETS consists of an “exclosure” sub-system with a five-sided polypropylene, barrier that excludes offshore lake contaminated water from the swimming area. Inside the exclosure, water is pumped to a portable filtration-ultraviolet treatment sub-system with three components. First, heavy debris like aquatic plants are removed through a strainer. Second, fine particles are removed through a sand filter and backwashing is automated through a program logic controller triggered by pressure sensor readings. Third, pathogens, algae, bacteria, and viruses are inactivated through ultraviolet (UV) disinfection. To determine sizing of sand filters and evaluation of efficiency of UV disinfection and aid in the design of the inlet and outlet locations for the pump system, computational fluid dynamics modeling with a Lagrangian particle-tracking method are employed. Flushing time is determined to range from 0.67 to 1.89days. Residence time maps reveal inlet and outlet locations play an important role in depicting the duration of particles within the swimming area. Comprehensive water quality sampling is conducted and analyzed with ANOVA testing reveal that water quality parameters inside the exclosure are significantly different than those outside. There have been no beach closures issued since deployment of WETS. Overall, WETS, an innovative Water Exclosure Treatment System, provides safe, clean water inside the exclosure for minimizing beach closure.