Wakarusa WRF
Lawrence, Kansas
Wastewater and biosolids treatment processes are designed to support regulatory requirements
for effluent quality and solids final use. However, it is common that future changes in the
regulatory environment or solids management area can require subsequent modifications to the
plant’s processes. While the objective of the original design is to provide for anticipated future
requirements, it can be difficult to predict when, or if, more stringent requirements will be
imposed. Since higher levels of treatment correspond to greater capital and operating costs,
treatment that exceeds anticipated needs is typically not desirable. Consequently, the goal is to
design flexible systems that meet current needs but minimize future facility obsolescence or
abandonment.
The design for the Wakarusa WRF in Lawrence, KS incorporates features that support initial
liquid stream and biosolids treatment requirements, but allows relatively easy conversions and
upgrades to meet potential tightening of effluent treatment criteria as well as changes in biosolids
final use within the lifespan of the plant. These design features avoid abandoning or replacing
equipment or facilities. This paper discusses design approaches incorporated in the Wakarusa
treatment processes that can maximize system flexibility, which, in turn, will minimize costs
associated with removal or abandonment of existing treatment processes.
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Posted: May 3rd, 2011 | Filed under: 50k-100k, Waste Water Treatment, Water Treatment | Tags: Biosolids Management, Cost Minimization, Planning for Future Compliance, Plant Optimization, Plant Sustainability, Reduced Plant Disruption | No Comments »
Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority
Camden, New Jersey
The Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority (CCMUA) operates an 80 million gallon per day wastewater treatment plant in Camden, NJ. The wastewater treatment plant, one of the largest in the State of New Jersey, is located within 100 yards of a residential neighborhood, known as the Waterfront South section of Camden City. Therefore, optimizing the wastewater treatment plant’s odor control performance is an absolute necessity to ensure that the plant does not interfere with the quality of life of the residents of Camden City. In addition, Camden City is one of the very poorest cities in the United States, and Waterfront South is the poorest neighborhood within Camden City. Therefore, it is even more morally imperative that the CCMUA do its utmost to not only, at a minimum, prevent causing adverse impact to its neighbors but also go beyond that and try to improve the residents’ quality of life in any way reasonably possible. This paper will demonstrate:
(1) that the CCMUA decided that implementing environmental justice, through the social mission described above, would be a core corporate objective for the organization.
(2) how the CCMUA used its Environmental Management System (EMS) to optimize odor control performance at the treatment plant, and
(3) how the CCMUA also implemented several other initiatives designed to improve the quality of life for the residents of Camden City. Source: WEFTEC 2009 Proceedings
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Posted: August 27th, 2010 | Filed under: 500K-1M, Sanitary Sewer, Stormwater, Waste Water Treatment | Tags: Cost Minimization, Environmental Impact, Improved Customer Relations, Maximize Sustainability, Optimization of Odor Control Performance, Optimization of Water Quality Performance | No Comments »
Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority
Camden, NJ
Increasing population, increasing environmental pressures, aging infrastructure, aging workforce and increasing resistance to taxes require wastewater utilities to be increasingly more efficient and versatile to:
− meet their environmental obligations
− sustain their infrastructure, and
− still meet their obligations to their ratepayers
The Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority (CCMUA), operators of a 80 million gallon per day wastewater treatment plant in Camden, NJ, found that implementation of an Environmental Management System (EMS) was absolutely essential to meeting both its environmental and financial goals, and obligations. Specifically, the CCMUA’s Environmental Management System has enabled it to:
• sustain, and optimize, its water quality performance
• sustain, and optimize, its air quality performance
• sustain, and optimize, its infrastructure
• establish, and sustain, rate stability
• sustain, and protect, wetlands within Camden County
• sustain, and capture, institutional knowledge
• sustain, and improve, relationships with regulatory agencies, neighbors and other interested stakeholders
This paper will demonstrate why the CCMUA implemented its Environmental Management System (EMS), provide a description of how the EMS was developed and then explain in detail how the CCMUA’s aforementioned environmental and economic sustainability goals were achieved through the EMS.
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Posted: July 23rd, 2010 | Filed under: 500K-1M, Sanitary Sewer, Stormwater, Waste Water Treatment | Tags: Conserving Environmental Resources, Cost Minimization, Environmental Impact, Improved Customer Service, Increased Air Quality, Increased Sustainability, Odor Minimization, Optimizing Efficiency, Optimizing Performance, Water Quality Optimization | No Comments »