Kittery is a coastal town in York county Maine and home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island. The Kittery Water District operates the Francis L. Hatch water filtration plant, which has an average capacity of 2.6 MGD. This is a surface water plant that utilizes hydrated or "slaked" lime (calcium hydroxide) to maintain the pH level around 7.0.
For over 25 years, the district has used two of the UGSI Chemical Feed – Cleanwater1 model 32-055 Feeders to mix dry hydrated lime with water to create a lime slurry solution that can then be added to the finished water treatment. The feeders operate on a start/stop batching basis to provide a constant supply of lime slurry for treatment. After 25 years of operation in harsh conditions, it was time to consider replacement feeders. The plant had to look no further than longtime UGSI Chemical Feed representative Sullivan Associates to supply the new 32-055 Feeders, which are identical to what was supplied in 1991.
The new feeders were an exact replacement of the existing units, so there was no need to move utilities, change connection interfaces or retrain operating personnel. It took less than a half day for plant personnel to remove the old units and install the new feeders. The 32-055 Feeder features rugged fiberglass construction, eliminating corrosion concerns typical with steel units. A unique, 3-step pulley and variable speed drive provides a 60:1 operating range with either local or remote control. Integral hopper agitation prevents bridging in the feeder and conditions the lime to a consistent density for accurate feed rates.