GeoSeminar: Drinking Water Treatment in Tulsa

Water is the foundation of civilization and societies. The Tulsa community is invited to join TU’s Department of Geoscience to learn all about Tulsa’s drinking water supply and treatment from Hua Jiang, Ph.D., P.E., Senior Engineer with the City of Tulsa’s Water and Sewer Department.

Water is essential to olivesife and fuels the economy. We, as a human race, have come far from the hunter-and-gatherer age. We don’t typically scoop up the water from a stream to quench our thirst anymore. Ever wonder in modern industrialized countries, where and how we normally get our potable water from? Is our tap water safe to drink? This talk will offer a brief overview of drinking water sources, treatment processes, and safeguards.
The City of Tulsa (City) is a regional water supplier and supplies drinking water to metropolitan Tulsa and surrounding communities. The City owns and operates two large drinking water treatment plants and produces up to 220 million gallons of water per day. The first plant, the Mohawk Water Treatment Plant, was built in 1929 and treated the water from Lake Spavinaw which is about 60 miles away. The lake water is transported to the plant through man-made pipelines, under gravity, for most of the year. The second plant, AB Jewell Water Treatment Plant was built in early 1970. It treats the water from Oologah Lake, which is about 30 miles away. The treated water from both plants is pumped to the City through a network of approximately 2000 miles of water mains.

Brief Bio:
Dr. Jiang is currently a Senior Engineer with the City of Tulsa’s Water and Sewer Department. In his capacity, he provides technical support for Tulsa’s drinking water treatment and supply. He has led some major initiatives and projects during his tenures, such as chloramine conversion and taste & odor control. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Missouri – Rolla in 2006, and earned MS and BS degrees from Nanjing University and Nanjing University of Technology, in Nanjing, China, in 2001 and 1998, respectively. Before he joined the City, he worked for an engineering consulting firm in Kansas City where he worked on some very interesting projects, such as the first advanced wastewater reuse plant in Australia and the world’s largest ozonation project for drinking water purification in Texas.