Ice Pigging treatment boosts clarity and quality of city’s water

BREWSTER – Ice Pigging…so many possibilities come to mind…wrestling greased porcine on a frozen rink (just picture that) …an ice cube eating contest…something you might see – between fights - at a hockey game.

But while this ice pigging may be less entertaining and more conventional than all the above, it’s an important treatment for improving the quality of the city’s water supply. That’s why the city is having it done – and the good news for the city budget and water bills; federal dollars are paying for it.

American Pipeline Solutions from Hackensack, New Jersey, is one of the few companies that specializes in the process called “ice pigging” where a brine solution of water, ice, and salt is used to scour out water lines to remove impurities. APS has been in town for the past two weeks treating the lines in a planned order to remove concentrations of manganese and other unwanted accumulations from the system.

The slurry, including the ice used, is made on-site by the APS equipment. The process starts with 2,700 gallons fresh water in a specially designed slush maker. Into the mix goes 1,250 pounds of table salt, and the brine is formed at low temperature (18-19 degrees F.) so the ice particles are of a size and consistency for maximum effectiveness for the type and diameter of water line being cleaned.

The mix is pumped into hydrant on a section of water line that the city isolates by closing valves and that section is treated. Then it’s on to the next isolated section. Throughout the process the three-man APS crew monitors the water content as it cycles through a Flow Analysis System (FAS).

Director of Public Works Lee Webster explained the process in a presentation before the city council at its regular monthly meeting last Thursday, June 15. Dramatic “before” and “after” photos show how both the speed and efficiency of the process.

“I am so impressed with what we are getting out of it,” said Webster of the process, “and how quickly it turns into clear water.”

And clear water means just that.

“In most cases we have been able to get down to 0.0 turbidity after the pig has gone through,” said Webster, “so it has been absolutely scouring those pipes.”

The rotating three-man APS crew travels from city to city pulling 15-day shifts with time off in between. The next stop for the Brewster crew is south to Vancouver.