The City of Fargo Water Treatment Plant was recently honored with the Membrane Facility of the Year Award at the Membrane Technology Conference 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. The national award recognizes an outstanding water/wastewater facility that uses membrane technology with high efficiency in an environmentally friendly approach. Membrane technology utilizes pressure or a vacuum to force water through a system that filters out particles or dissolved materials from drinking water.
The award is based on several criteria, including demonstration of high efficiency that conserves energy or water, novel challenges or concepts, operational compliance and public and educational outreach. Five other systems were nominated for the award this year: the City of Santa Monica, California; Orange County Water District, California; Quail Valley Utility District, Texas; Town of Jupiter Utilities, Florida; and the City of Moss Point, Mississippi. A panel of judges in the membrane industry ranked the submissions, and the Fargo Membrane Water Treatment Plant (MWTP) was named the winner on March 6, 2024, at the annual conference. In addition to this award, the MWTP has contributed to Fargo being voted best tasting drinking water in North Dakota in 2022 and 2023.
The Fargo Membrane Water Treatment Plant was commissioned in 2018 and has a capacity to produce 15 million gallons per day of drinking water. The MWTP was designed and constructed to meet future water demands and to address source water that is challenging to treat. Fargo uses the Red and Sheyenne rivers as source water that is treated to attain drinking water standards. The plant’s technology includes ultrafiltration membranes, reverse osmosis membranes, instrumentation for continuous monitoring of water quality, and designed efficiencies for chemical usage and treatment costs.
The annual Membrane Technology Conference is sponsored jointly between the American Membrane Technology Association (AMTA) and the American Water Works Association (AWWA). AMTA is a membrane processes association for the United States, Canada, Mexico and Central America. AWWA is an international, nonprofit, scientific and educational organization that provides solutions for the effective management of water.