Various WWTP's
Massachusetts
In 2004, Massachusetts passed another law regulating Public Construction in the
Commonwealth. Being mostly engineers and owners, the first thing that comes to mind when
you hear “law regulating public construction” is “how is this going to affect my project?” And
the next thing you see is dollar signs floating through the air. This paper will show you how this
is one regulation and one process that will cost a little money and legwork upfront but will save
you significant dollars, reduce stress, and benefit your project in the long term. Case studies will
include the Westborough Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade Project, Nantucket Surfside
Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade Project, Nantucket Public Safety Facility Project, and the
Hopkinton Fruit Street Wastewater Treatment Plant Project. Topics will include the
Massachusetts Chapter 193 of the Acts of 2004 and Division of Capital Asset Management and
their influence on the Prequalification Process.
Metric Used:
Posted: May 20th, 2011 | Filed under: Waste Water Treatment | Tags: Cost Savings, Improved Construction, Reduced Stress | No Comments »
The conversion of raw sewage sludge into valuable biosolids for beneficial reuse requires a
suitable pre-treatment process. However, traditional technologies are causing high investment
costs, operation costs, and energy demand; or are not fully meeting the demands of the market.
As recent experiences from the world’s largest solar drying and solar-assisted drying plants in
Palma de Mallorca, Spain and Oldenburg, Germany show, solar drying is an effective alternative
for large facilities. Drying costs and energy consumption are less than half, maintenance is low,
and operation is simple and safe at these facilities when compared to traditional thermal dryers.
Also, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are reduced by a factor of seven when compared to
conventional dryers. By using waste heat from other processes, the area requirement can be
reduced by a factor of three to five. The final product is suitable as fuel for Waste-to-Energy
(WTE) plants, coal power plants, or cement kilns. It can also be used as a Class-A fertilizer for
agricultural use, or land application.
Metric Used:
Posted: May 20th, 2011 | Filed under: Waste Water Treatment, Water Treatment | Tags: Cost Savings, Decreased Energy Consumption, Plant Sustainability, Smaller Carbon Footprint | No Comments »
Bryan Wastewater Treatment Plant
Bryan, Ohio
Many communities are faced with considering a change in how their boisolids processing and disposal
programs will operate in the future. This discussion is coming about due to many biosolids processes that
were installed in the 1970s and 1980s under a different era of reuse and regulation and reaching the end of
their useful life.
To move forward there needs to be the establishment of objectives and goals that an evaluation is to be
built around for the future needs of biosolids processing for the owner/authority. The evaluation should
indentify the process that will be the most cost effective in capital and operation and maintenance costs. In
addition, with today’s concerns regarding climate change every evaluation should evaluate the carbon
footprint created by the various processes.
This is a case study of one evaluation done by the author that turned into a thermal dryer project that has
now been in operation for over six years.
Metric Used:
Posted: May 20th, 2011 | Filed under: 100K-500K, Waste Water Treatment | Tags: Cost Effective Solution, Decreased Gas Consumption, Improved Plant Sustainability, Smaller Carbon Footprint, Solids reduction | No Comments »
DC Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water)
Washington, DC
The DC Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) is implementing new sludge and biosolids
processing facilites at the 1.4 million cubic meters/day (370 million gallons per day [mgd]) Blue
Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant (AWTP) in Washington D.C. The program
involves thermal hydrolysis (TH) followed by anaerobic digsetion and includes a major
cogeneration facility to provide electric power for the treatment plant and steam for the TH
process.
Decision and development criteria for DC Water’s biosolids program have evolved over recent
years and now include a broad range of factors with strong emphasis on sustainability criteria. A
major link between high-performance digestion and renewable energy production has been
forged. Key criteria for decision-making now include renewable power and energy production,
climate change issues, biosolids product quality, digestion performance, and site efficiency, as
well as capital constraints and economics.
Metric Used:
Posted: May 20th, 2011 | Filed under: 100K-500K, Waste Water Treatment | Tags: Biosolids Minimization, Economic Benefits, Energy Management, Improved Digestion Performance, Plant Sustainability, Reduced Carbon Footprint, Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions | No Comments »
Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District (GBMSD)
Green Bay, Wisconsin
The Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District (GBMSD) is a public utility, established in 1931,
that reclaims 38 million gallons of wastewater per day at two treatment facilities in Green Bay
and De Pere, WI. Its service area covers 285 square miles and serves more than 219,000 people.
GBMSD’s mission is to promote public health and welfare through the collection, treatment, and
reclamation of wastewater, while assessing stable, competitive rates. In conjunction with others,
the organization will encourage pollution prevention and support programs to help ensure that
water contaminated by human activity is returned clean to the environment. GBMSD conducts
its business using a sustainable approach within the social, environmental, and economical
values of our customers and stakeholders.
GBMSD initiated the development of a Solids Management Plan in 2008 to address aging solids
handling facilities and the solids loadings from recently acquired De Pere Facility. The existing
solids processing system consists of belt press dewatering followed by multiple hearth
incineration. The solids system is located at the Green Bay Facility. Solids from the De Pere
Facility are transferred by pipeline to the Green Bay Facility for processing. The solids system
was constructed in the 1970s and is reaching the end of its useful life. The multiple hearth
incineration process is now considered an outdated technology. Current incineration technology
uses fluidized beds, which consume less fuel and lower air emissions.
The solids management planning effort was undertaken to develop a long-term plan for handling,
processing, and disposing of solids. The plan included a comprehensive evaluation of numerous
solids management technologies and approaches. This paper describes the process used to
develop the plan, the alternatives that were considered, the alternatives evaluation process, and
the preferred solids management alternative.
Metric Used:
Posted: May 20th, 2011 | Filed under: 100K-500K, Sanitary Sewer, Stormwater, Waste Water Treatment | Tags: Environmental Impact, Minimized Life-Cycle Cost, Plant Sustainability, Reduced Carbon Footprint, Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions | No Comments »
Saco Wastewater Treatment Plant
Saco, Maine
The use of novel CSO control, treatment and disinfection systems based on advanced vortex technologies
including Vortex Flow Controls (VFC) and Hydrodynamic Vortex Separator (HDVS) that enable,
Screening, Grit Removal, Sedimentation and Disinfection to be accomplished in one vessel is described.
The application of the technologies at the Saco Wastewater Treatment Plant involves a new generation of
HDVS and vortex flow controls that regulate wet-weather flows to control maximum flows to the existing
wastewater treatment plant to avoid hydraulic overloading and the diversion of excess combined sewage
flows to the new CSO treatment facility.
The wet-weather treatment facility utilizes an advanced HDVS that incorporates a non-powered, selfactivating
and self-cleansing CSO floatables screening system; with the captured pollutants comprising
sewer debris and solids including sediments, settleable organic solids and floatables, being returned to the
headworks at the treatment plant and the clarified, screened and disinfected overflow being discharged to
the receiving environment (Saco River), after de-chlorination.
The ability to perform several essential unit processes (i.e. Screening, Grit Removal, Sedimentation and
Disinfection) all in one vessel resulted in significant savings in the overall project scheme costs on
account of the more compact design of the advanced HDVS system coupled with the elimination of
additional tanks and vessels that would have been required with the conventional approach. Analytical
results from post-construction compliance monitoring have confirmed the efficacy of the advanced vortex
technologies.
Metric Used:
Posted: May 20th, 2011 | Filed under: <50K, Stormwater, Waste Water Treatment | Tags: Cost Savings, Improved Disinfection, Improved Plant Efficiency, Improved Solids Removal, Optimal CSO Control | No Comments »
EPA’s combined sewer overflow (CSO) program has reached a mature stage. Some communities
have completed their CSO controls, while others are in the process of constructing controls or
evaluating potential alternatives. With the recent emphasis on green infrastructure, some
communities are evaluating the role of natural systems and ecological processes in Long Term
Control Plans (LTCPs) for controlling CSOs. The convergence of these critical milestones and
issues for the national CSO program highlights the need for updated tools and guidance to
facilitate future CSO control efforts. In response, EPA is developing guidance on post
construction compliance monitoring for CSOs, as well as the Green LTCP-EZ, a tool that allows
small CSO communities to incorporate green infrastructure as part of their LTCP efforts. This
paper discusses these initiatives serves as outreach to CSO communities on these efforts.
Metric Used:
Posted: May 20th, 2011 | Filed under: Sanitary Sewer, Stormwater | Tags: CSO Control, Environmental Impact, Green Infrastructure, Meeting Compliance | No Comments »
Polk County Utilities (PCU)
Polk County, Florida
To assure that Polk County Utilities (PCU) is ready for coming changes in regulations and ever
increasing solids production from ten treatment facilities geographically dispersed throughout the
County, the County wanted to develop a proactive long term biosolids management plan that
integrated residuals management approaches among the various treatment plants. Geographical
dispersion and capacity diversity combined with a desire for an integrated long-term
management plan gave rise to a number of possible alternatives to be included in the evaluation.
The landfill disposal alternative investigated met PCU’s objectives which were to identify a cost
effective method for managing current and future biosolids generated at PCU’s facilities that
would represent a viable plan for the next twenty years. An agreement developed between PCU
and Polk County’s Solid Waste Division to mutually address disposal of leachate and biosolids
resulted in significant cost savings for both these County agencies.
Metric Used:
Posted: May 20th, 2011 | Filed under: Stormwater, Waste Water Treatment | Tags: Biosolids Management, Cost Savings, Environmental Impact, Plant Sustainability, Reduced Carbon Footprint | No Comments »
Massaponax WWTP
Spotsylvania, Virginia
Spotsylvania County embarked up an aerated static pile composting program in 2002 to manage
undigested dewatered wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) residuals cake from their
Massaponax WWTP in conjunction with brush collected through a convenience center and at the
Livingston Landfill. The initial compost facility included a covered aerated static pile process
that provided intermittent positive aeration only. The quantity of dewatered residuals being
composted has increased from approximately 8,800 tons per year in 2003 to in excess of 12,600
tons per year in 2009. Even with this rapid increase in quantities, all regulatory process criteria
have been met and offsite odor impacts have been non-existent. Howeverer, residuals cake
continued to be landfilled from a second WWTP, the FMC plant, in the amount of 5,000 – 6,000
tons per year. The County embarked upon a compost facility expansion program in 2006 with
three main goals.
1. To manage the ever increasing quantities of residuals cake generated from both County
WWTP’s over the next 20 years.
2. To enhance and automate the compost process performance.
3. To accomplish this expansion with no offsite odor impacts.
Construction of the new facilities was completed in March, 2010. This paper presents data on the
process flow, process controls, and the odor management system of this successfully expanded
aerated static pile composting operation.
Metric Used:
Posted: May 20th, 2011 | Filed under: Waste Water Treatment | Tags: Cost Savings, Environmental Impact, Plant Sustainability, Reduced Carbon Footprint, Reduced Odor | No Comments »
Humber Treatment Plant (HTP)
Toronto, Ontario (Canada)
The Humber Treatment Plant (HTP) was experiencing severe settling problems. An opportunity
to improve the performance of the HTP was seized by the plant’s Senior Engineer by developing
and implementing a program of repair, continuous assessment, analysis, and tuning to ensure
optimal operation of the aging infrastructure. Through the strategic utilization of existing inhouse
expertise and resources, a new benchmark of excellence, serving the community through
improved and consistent effluent quality with accompanying odour reductions, was established.
This achievement was accomplished paradoxically using less energy and chemicals, thus,
significantly reducing the Humber’s environmental footprint. The direct delivery of these
services by City staff, while further enhancing in-house knowledge, skill, and stewardship,
eliminated the delays associated with project delivery using external contractors and made it
possible to reap the immediate rewards. The monetary benefits to the City are savings in
operating costs of $550,000 per year and capital savings of $6,000,000.
Metric Used:
Posted: May 20th, 2011 | Filed under: 500K-1M, Waste Water Treatment | Tags: Capital Savings, Decreased Energy Consumption, Improved Plant Sustainability, Operating Cost Savings, Reduced Carbon Footprint, Reduced Odor Problems | No Comments »