Prince George’s County and their partners (U.S. EPA, City of Laurel, Prince George’s County Public Schools, Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission, Lowe’s Home Improvement Center, and Patuxent River 4-H Center) have been collaborating on a comprehensive storm water management plan using Low Impact Development (LID) for urban retrofit and decentralized wastewater treatment system. The Demonstration Project was funded by a Congressional Earmark Grant of Total Project amount of $1,324,667 the Federal Grant portion is $993,500 (75%) and match portion is $331,167 (25%). LID is a concept that began in Prince George’s County, Maryland in 1990 as an alternative to traditional storm water Best Management Practices (BMP’s) installed at construction projects. The LID project components are an integrated storm water management approach using LID techniques to retrofit a mixed use, high density area and a decentralized wastewater treatment system. LID techniques can be simple, but cost effective instead of depending on expensive, and complicated collection, conveyance, storage and treatment systems. The LID techniques used in this project are bioretention cells, grass swales, rain barrels/cisterns, green roofs, Bayscaping, and permeable pavements. LID techniques can also play an important role in Smart Growth, Green Infrastructure, and Land Use Planning. The implementation of these techniques will reduce water consumption, run-off, and non-point sources. Source: WEFTEC 2009 Proceedings
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Posted: August 27th, 2010 | Filed under: Sanitary Sewer, Stormwater, Waste Water Treatment | Tags: Cost Effective, Environmental Impact, Innovative Approach to Urban Storm Water Management, Plant Sustainability, Reduce Carbon Footprint, Reduce Water Consumption | No Comments »
Membrane bioreactors (MBRs) for wastewater treatment offer the advantages of superior effluent quality and a small footprint. The disadvantage is frequent membrane cleaning caused by membrane fouling that require higher labor and chemical demands when compared to conventional activated sludge process (CASP). The goal of this investigation was to operate MBR systems without chemicals, allowing a sustainable process at low costs. Microdyn-Nadir in cooperation with Darmstadt University has developed a unique non-chemical mechanical cleaning process (MCP). The MCP-process offers an operation of the MBR-Module with high flux rates up to 40 L/(m²×h) (23.6 gfd) continuous operation. For more than 20 months (test ongoing) no chemical cleanings have been performed. This process also allows for a significant flux increase of about 30 % in comparison to a standard MBR-application without MCP. The investigations showed that:
• the use of granulates
o has a positive effect on membrane permeability
o allows an operation at high flux levels
o does not negatively affect effluent quality
• the major task of a membrane in the MBR process is the rejection of biomass. This function was not affected by using granulates.
• granulates remove fouling layers via abrasive effects. The new method has a high potential for effective and economic fouling control of membranes. • in terms of sustainability no chemicals are required for a MBR operation using this new process technology (MCP). This makes it a sustainable operation without an impact on the environment. At the same time, costs can be reduced.
• The Mechanical Cleaning Processes is more cost efficient compared to chemical cleaning. The cost of chemicals and infrastructure can be eliminated. The membrane area can also be reduced as the membrane throughput is increased by about 28 %. These savings by far exceed the cost for granulates and granulate rejection by a screening process. Source: WEFTEC 2009 Proceedings
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Posted: August 27th, 2010 | Filed under: Waste Water Treatment | Tags: Cost Effective, Economical/Effective Fouling Control, Increased Flux, No Chemicals Required, Reduce Carbon Footprint | No Comments »