Raw Water Supply

All of the water used in Hollywood's WTP comes from beneath the ground out of geological formations known as aquifers. An aquifer is an area of porous rock, which is confined by impermeable layers that trap water.

Water from the Biscayne aquifer is fresh and accessed from shallow wells with depths from 60-150 feet. The major source of water for the Biscayne Aquifer is from rainwater. Lime softening treatment only use water from Hollywood's wells into this aquifer; while the nano-filtration membrane softening units produce up to 14 million gallons per day from all of Hollywood's Biscayne sources.

The water from the Floridan aquifer is brackish (salty), and accessed from deep well sources about 1200 feet below ground. The new plant contains two reverse osmosis units which can treat up to 4 million gallons per day from the Floridan source. Reverse osmosis can remove salt at the molecular level. This capability was added to meet projected future restrictions on using the Biscayne water. These wells are currently not being used.

Water is pumped from the wells and piped to the Water Treatment Plant. From there the water enters the treatment process. The Hollywood WTP utilizes two separate processes to soften and treat water for domestic consumption. The first, and older, process is Lime Softening, and the second is Membrane Softening. Each of these processes will be discussed.

So let's start the treatment process and check out the spiractors.