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CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHT S
Bob Freudenthal Public Utility Project of the Year

Alcoa - Hypo Generator

Replacement

Named for the late APWA Past President 15 feet above the floor.
Bob Freudenthal, who passed away in Alcoa’s workers ran multiple feeds
2023, this award celebrates public sector and control wires from the old unit’s
projects of exceptional importance and panel to the new one. This job involved
innovation in utility services. It recognizes tasks the workers were experienced in,
achievements that showcase creativity, (as well as some outside their comfort
efficiency and a meaningful impact on the zone), according to Russell Whitehead,
community. Supervisor, City of Alcoa Water Treatment
This year’s Bob Freudenthal Public Plant.
Utility Project of the Year was awarded to He said the project “ultimately, turned
the City of Alcoa for its WTP Microclor out better than we could have hoped. We
On-Site Hypochlorite Generator were later told by the vendor that this
Replacement Project. This equipment installation would have cost over $250,000 Shane Snoderly, Director of Public Works and
takes fully saturated brine, mixes it with if we had contracted it out.” Engineering, Alcoa, proudly accepted the award.
softened water, induces the solution with
280V, 320A DC, and converts it to 0.8%
sodium hypochlorite (bleach), which the
City of Alcoa uses to disinfect its drinking
water.
In 2024, the city decided to replace its
aging hypochlorite generator with a newer
model, the Microclor system. When the
new unit arrived, a major challenge was
that the old Clor-tec unit was designed
and installed as part of the plant’s original
construction. The new unit had to be
fitted into the same footprint as the old.
The Microclor also requires a different
ventilation system to remove hydrogen
gas, a by-product of the bleach production
process. This involved some specialized
pipe fitting with large 8-inch PVC pipe
that had to be cut, fitted, and glued about

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