Ballasted Biological Treatment Process Removes Nutrients and Doubles Plant Capacity

Town of Sturbridge WWTF
Sturbridge, Massachusetts

The Town of Sturbridge, MA WWTF has experienced steadily increasing flows over the last 20 years due to significant population growth in the community. Plant loading rates are now above design levels, and NPDES permit requirements are becoming more stringent for both nitrogen and phosphorous. Furthermore, a limited footprint is available for expansion. The Town and its consulting engineer, Tighe & Bond, considered many potential solutions to address these issues, including a system upgrade using Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) technology. During an evaluation of treatment alternatives Tighe & Bond recognized that while MBRs can provide high level treatment in a small footprint they can also be energy intensive, relatively expensive to own and operate, and subject to membrane fouling, cleaning and replacement issues. Based on these issues the Town decided to explore an emerging ballasted biological treatment technology called BioMag. The results of this successful full scale demonstration show that BioMag is a promising new technology for upgrading many activated sludge treatment facilities. Existing systems can be reconfigured to implement biological nutrient removal, and/or to operate at higher flows and loadings without adding new aeration tanks and/or clarifiers. BioMag proved to be a stable, reliable, operator-friendly process. The Town concluded that the demonstration was a success, and is moving forward with the design and installation of a full scale BioMag system in Sturbridge. Capital costs for the BioMag upgrade were determined to be substantially lower than those of a comparable MBR upgrade. O&M costs for BioMag are also expected to be lower than those of a comparable MBR system, resulting in a substantial lifecycle cost savings of nearly 30 percent for the Town. Source: WEFTEC 2009 Proceedings

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Posted: August 27th, 2010 | Filed under: <50K, Waste Water Treatment | Tags: Cost Savings, Energy Savings, Environmental Impact, Innovative Technology, Reduced Carbon Footprint | No Comments »

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