SEDIF awards Stereau with the contract to update its Arvigny plant to become the first in the industry to use low-pressure reverse osmosis
As leader of the consortium that includes Gagneraud, Setec and HB architects, Saur Group engineering subsidiary Stereau will update the Arvigny water treatment plant for the Syndicat des Eaux d'Ile-de-France (SEDIF). Between now and 2022, a high-performance, low-pressure reverse osmosis membrane filtration system will be installed at the plant to soften the water it supplies, and remove both nitrates and micropollutants.
SEDIF is responding to the expectations of its users by exceeding the existing standards it already meets uncompromisingly to earmark €34 million in its 15th investment plan (2016-2020) for upgrading water treatment at its Arvigny plant in the department of Seine-et-Marne.
By 2022, this plant in Savigny-le-Temple will be producing 22,000 m3 per day of pure water from the Champigny limestone aquifer to supply Athis-Mons, Juvisy-sur-Orge, Villeneuve-le-Roi, Rungis and Ablon-sur-Seine, and their 80,000 residents. For SEDIF, this plant will be the pilot unit and model for further high-performance filtration membrane installation projects at the Choisy-le-Roi and Neuilly-sur-Marne plants in the near future.
Once the upgrade is complete, the Arvigny plant will be the first in the French water supply industry to use the low-pressure reverse osmosis technique for drinking water production.
Pumped from the deep aquifers of the Paris basin, this water will be treated by passing through the 8 filtration skids containing the membranes. “The use of this reverse osmosis technology - which is more usually used for seawater desalination - makes it possible to obtain 100% pure water, because the membranes act as a physical barrier allowing only water molecules to pass through”, explains Alain Péricaud, Head of Major Projects at Stereau. The technology is so effective that it has to be remixed with a very small amount of conventionally treated water in order to meet current drinking water standards.
The project forms part of a much wider innovation commitment at SEDIF, whose aim is to boost user satisfaction and supply water of impeccable health quality. In the near future, all water supplied by SEDIF will exceed current standards by removing micropollutants and nitrates, as well as organic matter, to improve its taste. These new treatment systems will reduce water hardness (from 360 ppm to 90 ppm), extending appliance life and reducing scale build-up in boilers and pipes for consumers.
A museum-style architectural presentation of the process has been designed and produced, with the membranes visible behind a glass panel to illustrate the technique more clearly and provide an overview of all the process stages. A new installation of solar panels complete the project. They improve the plant’s environmental performance by reducing its consumption of power from the grid, at the same time as improving treatment reliability by protecting the sand filters from the sun to prevent algal blooms that could potentially damage the osmotic membranes. The panels will convert solar energy harmful to the process into eco-friendly electrical energy.
The entire plant upgrading project has been designed using BIM (Building Information Modelling). As well as producing a three-dimensional geometric model of the plant prior to construction, this technology also makes it possible to combine a multitude of data and tasks into a single system that will also facilitate operation of the future plant.
As a model of cutting-edge drinking water treatment technology, the updated Arvigny plant will benefit everyone in the Ile-de-France region.