OMAHA, NEB. — HDR’s Water business group was selected by the Water Research Foundation to develop a guidance manual that provides utilities with a comprehensive resource for solving water treatment problems that come from variable levels of manganese in their source water.

Two Water professionals from HDR’s Denver office will lead the project. Phil Brandhuber, Ph.D., will serve as both principal investigator and project manager and Sarah Clark, P.E., will serve as both a co-principal investigator and the lead writer of the manual, "Guidance for Treatment of Manganese." It is an 18-month project.

Brandhuber also is currently serving as the principal investigator for Water Research Foundation project 4314 – Legacy Manganese Accumulation in Water Systems.

The research team also includes nationally-recognized experts in manganese chemistry and treatment, Drs. William Knocke and John Tobiason.

Information in the manual will be compiled from the experience of industry experts, a review of the literature and from case studies of utilities that have broad experience treating and managing variable manganese levels.

Several utilities will participate as partners on the research team, including the cities of  Westminster, Colo.; Cheyenne, Wyo.; Ft. Collins, Colo.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; and Newport News, Va., as well as Aquarion Water of Connecticut, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the Passaic Valley Water Commission in New Jersey.

The objective of the research is to provide guidance and recommendations to utilities for effective control of variable levels of manganese through source water management and the design and operation of treatment processes. The target audience for this manual is utility operators and design engineers who must address manganese in the treatment of water from both surface and ground water sources.