LAWRENCEVILLE, GA, March 24, 2008 -- A new uranium removal system provided by Water Remediation Technology, LLC (WRT®) will enable the City of Lawrenceville, Ga., to open a well that has concentrations of uranium that exceed the Environmental Protection Agency's maximum contaminant level (MCL) for drinking water. The installation of the Lawrenceville system will be the first of its kind in Georgia; plans are in place for additional systems.
Located in the Atlanta metro area, Lawrenceville, Ga., is home to just over 28,000 people and is the county seat of Gwinnett County. Lawrenceville signed a 20-year contract with WRT to remove uranium from Well #3, improving the quality of water and making it safe for the community to drink.
Lawrenceville currently purchases about 90 percent of its water supply from Gwinnett County, which pulls from nearby Lake Lanier. With the installation of WRT's uranium removal system, the City of Lawrenceville can begin reducing its dependence on Lake Lanier, which is critical considering the record-breaking drought in north Georgia at this time.
"We're proud to have the first installation of WRT's uranium removal system in the state of Georgia," said Mike Bowie, Lawrenceville's Water Department superintendent. "We chose to work with WRT because the company's technology safely removes the contaminant from our water without affecting the environment or our community. It was especially important for our decision that WRT handle the removal and disposal of the uranium so we don't have to worry about it."
As is typical of WRT's radionuclide removal systems in other states, the treatment system in Lawrenceville will operate under WRT's Radioactive Materials License. WRT is currently working with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources in order to obtain the required Radioactive Material License for the storage, removal, and handling of natural radium and uranium from the state's drinking water.
According to the EPA, uranium can be found naturally in soil, water and food at low concentrations. But high levels of these contaminants ingested over a long period of time can lead to serious health problems. WRT will also be responsible for the environmentally safe handling and removal of the uranium from the treatment site to a remote licensed facility, thus preventing future contamination in Lawrenceville.
Colorado-based WRT services clients across the United States with full-scale installations in California, Illinois, Wisconsin, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
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