WestWater recently completed the design and construction of a self-contained system designed to handle the batching and dosing of Sodium Hypochlorite for Rio Tinto’s Great Sandy Desert Potable Water Treatment Plant (PWTP). The PWTP is located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, approximately 130km north of the Telfer mine and 350km southeast of Port Hedland.
Raw water is supplied to the PWTP from the Rio Tinto borefield. The treated potable water is then supplied under pressure via a Booster Pump System and dosed with Sodium Hypochlorite.
The PWTP comprises of two (2) Hyprolyser Electrochlorination units in duty/assist arrangement, which use brine, water and DC power to produce Sodium Hypochlorite (concentration of 0.6%). Hydrogen is the only by-product associated with the electrolytic process, and is safely monitored, contained and vented to atmosphere outside of the building. The generated product is dosed into the potable water supply via a duty/standby dose pump arrangement. The potable water is monitored using a Yokogawa FC800 Free Chlorine Analyser.