New Hanford Water Treatment Facility Operational

The Central Plateau Water Treatment Facility will treat 3.5 million gallons of water a day to support the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant and other cleanup operations on the Hanford Site.

Facility supplying millions of gallons of water daily

RICHLAND, Wash. — As part of ongoing efforts to modernize infrastructure on the Hanford Site, the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) announced the Central Plateau Water Treatment Facility has passed all operational acceptance testing and now provides water to Hanford’s water system.

Automating much of the water treatment process, the new facility provides all potable water to the cleanup hub of the site, the Central Plateau, while also supporting tank waste treatment operations. The Central Plateau contains Hanford’s former processing facilities, current site operations and the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant.

“With the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste program now treating tank waste and immobilizing it in glass, we are embarking on a period of 24/7 cleanup operations that will continue for several decades,” EM Hanford Field Office Manager Ray Geimer said. “This facility will play a critical role in providing services to the Hanford Site. It’s one of many projects now in place that are going to set the conditions for future work at the site.”

The new water treatment facility will use an innovative microfiltration method to deliver high quality water to cleanup operations and will replace the Hanford Site’s original water treatment plant built in the 1940s.

The effort to successfully treat and vitrify Hanford tank waste for safe disposal will increase the demand for a reliable water supply at facilities and for fire suppression capabilities. The new water facility will increase current daily capabilities from 2.1 million gallons of clean water up to 3.5 million gallons, with the ability to expand to 5 million gallons.

Contractor Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS) awarded the construction contract for the 10,000-square-foot facility to Richland’s Fowler General Construction Inc. HMIS will manage the facility, which will use an innovative microfiltration method to deliver high quality water to cleanup operations.

“We take great pride in our role in the Hanford mission to enable all cleanup progress, including long term tank waste treatment and risk reduction,” said Amy Basche, HMIS president. “This facility will support Hanford in the next phase of operations and support the cleanup mission for the next several decades.”