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1. Background, Purpose Statement <br /> To meet Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) as defined by the Florida Department of <br /> Environmental Protection (FDEP), Indian River County (County) will evaluate managed <br /> aquatic plant systems (MAPS) to reduce Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorous (P) in waters <br /> discharged from the North Relief Canal (NRC). Although the County has used existing <br /> MAPS technologies to reduce N and P discharges in the Main and South Relief Ca- <br /> nals, the County recognizes that opportunities exist to improve upon these approaches. <br /> As a result, the County is interested in developing and testing technologies that have <br /> advantages over traditional MAPS in terms of design, performance and efficiency. <br /> Van Ert, Nemoto and Associates, LLC (VEN) will work with Indian River County to im- <br /> plement and test an innovative, low energy MAPS — a concept termed Low Energy <br /> Aquatic Plant System (LEAPSTM) - that combines cultivation of aquatic plant species <br /> with settling and oxygenation units to reduce N and P in nutrient impaired waters. Spe- <br /> cifically, VEN will design, construct, operate, monitor and optimize a pilot scale <br /> LEAPSTM on the NRC. In addition, VEN will compare then LEAPSTM performance to a <br /> non-sloped attached algae system known as a Periphytic-Epiphytic Algae Re- <br /> Oxygenation (PEARO) system. Each system will operate at a flow rate of 5 gallons per <br /> minute (total = 14,400 gallons/day). The overall goal of the project is to collect relevant <br /> data over a 12 month period to develop a preliminary design and process layout for a <br /> full-scale system that can be constructed on.the North Relief Canal; a preliminary de- <br /> sign report will be presented formally to the County. <br /> 2. Tasks and Deliverables <br /> The project will be completed in four main tasks or stages: <br /> Stage 1. Site Selection, Preliminary Water Testing, Construction of Pilot <br /> Stage 2. Pilot testing: Emergent Plant Down-Select <br /> Stage 3. Pilot testing: Optimal Plants and Parameters <br /> Stage 4. Preliminary Full Scale Design Report <br /> A detailed description and discussion of the project was initially presented in VEN's re- <br /> sponse to the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) delivered to the County on April 4, 2012 <br /> and in the first Statement of Work (SOW) delivered on June 1, 2016. However, due to <br /> permitting delays, budgetary considerations, and technical/scientific discussions with <br /> the County, we have modified the tasks/deliverables in the original SOW to include 1) <br /> an expansion of the project duration from six to twelve months, 2) a reduction in num- <br /> bers of LEAPSTM systems from four to one, 3) a reduction in floating aquatic plants <br /> species to be tested (Water Lettuce only) and 4) a reduction in the frequency of testing <br /> of select water chemistry parameters. We are confident these strategic changes will <br /> ultimately improve project focus and the applicability/predicative value of the collected <br /> data relative to the performance a full-scale LEAPSTm during year-long operations. The <br /> following is a summary of the revised tasks and deliverables for the project. <br />