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Feasibility Evaluation of the Arkansas Valley Pipeline <br />Water Works! Committee <br />June 2003 <br />Ocean Disposal <br />Ocean disposal of RO reject is a common disposal method used in coastal areas but is not <br />feasible in the lower Arkansas River basin for the obvious reason of its distance from the <br />ocean. <br />3.4.5.2 Preliminary Evaluations <br />Based on the above preliminary evaluations, it appears that the CDPHE were to change its <br />present RO reject disposal policy and no longer allow direct discharge of RO reject to the <br />Arkansas River, the cost of the most likely disposal alternative, deep well injection, would be <br />significant. This is a very preliminary evaluation, however, and a full feasibility study <br />concerning the potential for deep well injection for the specific conditions of the lower <br />Arkansas River base was therefore performed. <br />3.4.5.3 Disposal of Reject Water from Reverse Osmosis Treatment <br />U.S. EPA defines underground injection as the technology of placing fluids underground, in <br />porous formations of rock, through wells or other similar conveyance systems. While rocks <br />such as sandstone, shale, and limestone appear to be solid, they can contain significant voids <br />or pores that allow water and other fluids to fill and move through them. Manmade or <br />produced fluids (liquids, gases, or slurries) can move into the pores of rocks by the use of <br />pumps or by gravity. The fluids maybe water, wastewater , or water mixed with chemicals. <br />Injection well technology can predict the capacity of rocks to contain fluids and the technical <br />details to do so safety. <br />The Safe Drinking Water Act established the Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program <br />to provide safeguards so that injection wells do not endanger current and future underground <br />sources of drinking water (USDW),. The UIC Program defines an injection well as any <br />bored, drilled, or a driven shaft or a dug hole, where the depth is greater than the largest <br />surface dimension that is used to discharge fluids underground. The goals of the EPA's UIC <br />Program are to prevent contamination by keeping injected fluids within the well and the <br />intended injection zone, or in the case of injection of fluids directly or indirectly into a <br />USDW, to require that injected fluids do not cause a public water system to violate drinking <br />water standards or otherwise adversely affect public health. These minimum requirements <br />affect the siting of an injection well, and the construction, operation, maintenance, <br />monitoring, testing, and finally, the closure of the well. All injection wells required <br />authorization under general rules or specific permits. <br />40 <br />GEI Consultants, IIIC. 01284 03-0630 Feasibility Evaluation Final <br />