Media Release

Florida Water Reclamation Facility Specifies PENETRON ADMIX SB to Ensure Concrete Durability

USA

Completed in August 2024, the expanded East Water Reclamation Facility in Clermont, Florida helps the community better conserve water resources by providing reclaimed water for irrigation purposes. PENETRON ADMIX SB, a crystalline waterproofing admixture, was specified to ensure optimal durability of the facility’s new concrete structures.

Surrounded by gently sloping hills in the otherwise flat topography of Florida, Clermont is known as the “gem of the hills” and home to around 44,000 people. This quiet, residential city is only 22 miles (35 km) west of Orlando, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the USA and a major tourist destination thanks to numerous amusement parks (Disney World, Sea World, and Universal Studios) and venues for conventions and cultural events. As a result, a large proportion of the local economy centers on tourism, including hotels and retail businesses.

To keep pace with the steady increase in the city’s population, a $44.3 million project recently increased the treatment capacity of the East Water Reclamation Facility from 4.0 million gallons per day (MGD) to 6.5 MGD. The construction of new concrete structures included a new headworks structure (common wall with a flow equalization structure), a new biological nutrient removal reactor with anoxic and aerobic compartments, an internal recycle channel with a control gate, effluent weir, an 85-foot (26-m) diameter clarifier, effluent baffles and weirs, a new dual-chambered aerated sludge holding tank, etc.

“The East Water Reclamation Facility will help the community conserve water resources by using reclaimed water,” says Dale Williams, General Sales Manager for Penetron USA. “Reclaimed water is collected domestic wastewater treated to very high standards and then redistributed to irrigate fields, parks, and lawns in Clermont.”

The project’s original concrete waterproofing specifications identified both Penetron and a competitive product as potential solutions. Because Vogel Brothers, the general contractor, was unfamiliar with the Penetron System, Cemex, the ready-mix concrete supplier, showed how the superior performance of PENETRON ADMIX SB would be the best choice for the Clermont project – and also noted the built-in quality control measure in the form of a UV tracer, present in the bleed water during concrete placement and curing, which visually confirms the presence of the admixture in the mix.

PENETRON ADMIX SB, a crystalline waterproofing admixture, was added to 7,500 yds3 (5,740 m3) of concrete mix used for the new concrete elements of the East Water Reclamation Facility.

The durability of concrete structures in a plant like the East Water Reclamation Facility depends primarily on stopping water, effluent, and chemicals from entering the concrete, even under constant exposure to hydrostatic pressure. PENETRON ADMIX SB-treated concrete is impermeable, which protects the imbedded reinforcement steel in the concrete from corrosion and resulting concrete deterioration.

“With an ability to now self-heal microcracks – mitigating moisture and corrosion related damage – the service life of the treated concrete is greatly expanded,” concludes Dale Williams.

Adding PENETRON ADMIX SB to the mix stops water, effluent, and chemicals from entering the concrete, even under constant exposure to hydrostatic pressure.

Impermeable pour in Clermont, Florida: Adding PENETRON ADMIX SB to the mix stops water, effluent, and chemicals from entering the concrete, even under constant exposure to hydrostatic pressure.


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