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 Benton
Utilities Water Purification Department
 General Information – At the Benton Water Purification Plant, we strive to
meet all rules and regulations set by the Environmental Protection Agency
Safe Drinking Water Act. Up until this time, I think we have been very
successful in this endeavor. It is our goal, to provide the Citizens in
Benton and the outlying areas of Saline County with the best water
possible. This has been our goal since the middle of 1916, and will
continue to be our goal for many years to come. The Benton Utilities
Commissioners and employees of this dept. are dedicated to excellent water
quality and exemplary regulatory compliance.
There are three major components in a public water system; the Benton
Utilities Water Purification Plant is responsible for the first two
components. The first is the source of water supply, which is usually a
river, a lake, reservoir, or a combination of them. The second is
treatment facilities that settle, filter, and chemically purify raw water
to comply with the Federal standards in the Safe Drinking Water Act. The
third is the distribution system made up of the networks of mostly
underground pipes that carry water to homes, business and other customers.
 Steve DiCicco is the Manager of the Water Purification Plant, he started
to work for the City of Benton Water Distribution Dept. in 1977. He
oversees the day to day operations of the facility coordinating all
activities and responsibilities with the Benton Utilities General Manager.
Other employees in this department include five licensed operators that
keep the plant operational 24 hours a day 365 days a year, two additional
operators, a laboratory technician that takes samples of the water at
intervals and a laborer.
Plant Information – The treatment plant is a conventional surface water
treatment plant with a capacity 13 million gallons per day. The water
produced meets and exceeds all Safe Drinking Water Standards. The normal
daily flow is approximately 5 mgd average with a maximum flow to date is
10.75 mgd.
 Lab - Our lab has the ability to run TOC, Chlorine, Ph, Turbidity,
Alkalinity and many other water tests, and this testing is completed every
4 hours 24 hrs. a day.
 SCADA System – Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System, this
system enables us to control the plant, pumps, water tanks, as well as, it
has the capabilities of opening the gates at Lake Norrell from the plant.
It also maintains a complete historical log of functions pertaining to
these operations
Water Tanks – Total capacity 4,225,000 gallons of treated water in six
water storage tanks.
Water Sources
 Lake Norrell – In April of 1953, the construction was completed. It is a
280 acre lake built by Benton Plumbing Company and Jeffery-Lawrence &
Tilley of Fort Smith. It cost approximately $300,000 to construct, and it
stores 2.5 billion gallons of water. Lake Norrell is located upstream 17
miles from the City of Benton and water flows by gravity through the
Saline River channel to the intake in Benton.
 Saline River – There are 6 Pumps ranging in size from 100 HP to 300 HP
located at the river, and they provide water to Chenault Reservoir or to
the holding ponds adjacent to the plant. The spillway is located just
downstream from the pumps which serve sort of like a dam to prevent the
water from flowing away so quickly enhancing our pumps ability to
function.
Chenault Reservoir – This is an off-Stream Raw Water Storage Reservoir
that is intended to hold 120-day supply of water supplying 12 million
gallons per day.
 It was constructed in 1999 by Saline Crushing, there is pending litigation
in reference to problems that have been and are ongoing at this reservoir.
Currently, there is some work being done to correct the problems.
The Water Purification Process
Benton Water Purification Plant uses conventional treatment at its water
treatment plants. The treatment processes include coagulation,
flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, and disinfection. Raw water from
the Saline River, Lake Norrell and the Chenault Reservoir flows to the
Benton Treatment Plant.
The water first arrives at the treatment plants two holding ponds, where
powdered activated carbon is added for taste and odor removal. Water then
flows to the upflow clarifiers where the water and chemicals are gently
mixed to form "floc", which consist of agglomerations of suspended
particles such as silt, bacteria, and algae. The water then flows
 into the
sedimentation area where most of the "floc" settles out and is removed
from the water. The water then flows downward through filters of sand and
anthracite where any remaining "floc" particles are removed. Before and
after filtration, chlorine is added for disinfection.
Finally, fluoride is added for the prevention of cavities in children's
teeth and phosphate for minimizing corrosion in the distribution system
piping.
All processes are monitored 24 hours a day by a licensed operator. Testing
is completed every 4 hours by these operators and logged for Arkansas
Dept. of Health reporting.
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