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 »
Gippsland Water Factory
Gippsland, Victoria (Australia)
The Gippsland Water Factory (GWF) will be one of Australia’s most innovative wastewater treatment and recycling systems. With the advent of a carbon constrained economy, infrastructure projects will be required to demonstrate reduced greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe) compared to existing practice. Placing a GHGe constraint on the GWF project drove innovation: in the conceptual stages of design; in research conducted through the pilot plant facility; in determining operational electricity and chemical input requirements; in sourcing electricity inputs; and in carbon accounting techniques. An unambiguous target to reduce GHGe by 20% off a theoretical benchmark of 52,102 tonnes CO2-e/year was set, to ensure that the project was well placed for the introduction of an emissions trading scheme in Australia. A 13,681 tCO2-e per year (29% reduction) from the original concept design (June 2006) to final design (June 2009) was achieved. The GHG assessment included scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions which was important for minimising both onsite and offsite emissions with particular emphasis on reducing chemical consumption. The most significant process design features and characteristics that minimised GHGe were: anaerobic reactors for treatment of the industrial pulp and paper wastewater; methane recovery; membrane bioreactors; cogeneration and micro-hydro energy generation; and biological odour and H2S treatment systems. Source: WEFTEC 2009 Proceedings
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Posted: July 6th, 2010 | Filed under: <50K, Waste Water Treatment, Water Treatment | Tags: Environmental Impact (Reduced Carbon Footprint), Innovative Technology, Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions | No Comments »
Eastern Treatment Plant
Bangholme, Victoria (Australia)
Use of ozone followed by biological media filtration has been shown in this comprehensive pilot and demonstration scale test to enhance secondary effluent for reclamation purposes. Some enhancements are desirable simply because of better public acceptance, including significant color reduction, and micro-contaminant reduction. However other enhancements like turbidity removal, additional disinfection and ammonia reduction improve effluent from a compliance perspective. Other technologies were trialed including membrane ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis. The ozone BMF treatment platform also improved downstream membrane filtration processes by significantly increasing stable filtration flux and extending “clean-in-place” intervals. The technology increased 5%ile UV transmissivity values from 34% to almost 60%, resulting in significant cost savings in UV disinfection equipment requirements. Lastly, preliminary results indicate ozone increases average BMF solids removal capacity by 46%. “This process delivers the best value for money now and into the future, as a platform for providing flexibility to further enhance recycled water treatment, as needed” (Melbourne Water, July 2009). Source: WEFTEC 2009 Proceedings
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Posted: July 6th, 2010 | Filed under: >1M, Waste Water Treatment | Tags: Ammonia Reduction, Cost Savings, Improved Effluent, Increased Solids Removal, Innovative Technology | No Comments »
Abington WWTP
Abington, Pennsylvania
As permit requirements for effluent quality at wastewater treatment plants continue to become more stringent, intelligent control systems are needed to ensure optimal performance of the secondary treatment process. Such a control system was installed at Abington Wastewater Treatment Plant in southeastern Pennsylvania in 2005. Since that time, the control system has been optimizing dissolved oxygen set-points based on real-time loading with the goal of minimizing aeration requirements and maximizing process reliability. In 2009, after a plant upgrade, internal recycle optimization was added to the system. The benefits of this system have been a 5.5% reduction in aeration requirements, consistently meeting effluent ammonia goals, and optimal use of the anoxic volume for denitrification. Long term performance data of the upgraded system will be available once sufficient time has passed to fully evaluate the system. Source: WEFTEC Proceedings 2009
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Posted: June 25th, 2010 | Filed under: 50k-100k, Waste Water Treatment | Tags: Innovative Technology, Plant Optimization, Reduced Aeration Use | No Comments »