Making Your Wastewater Treatment Plant More Efficient Wastewater Treatment plants are not usually the source of innovation - with many continuing to operate much as they did a few decades ago. However, you may have heard of some recent successes due to the commercial application of an innovative approach to treatment - using Membrane Aerated Biofilm Reactor (MABR) technologies. This solution is gaining a lot of attention around the world due to the quantified benefits that combine to improve overall operational efficiency. These benefits include significant improvements in energy efficiency, and reductions in tank footprint, in sludge production and in operator support time. Simply installing a number of MABR modules in an existing tank enhances treatment performance, and provides additional process capacity overnight. Key Benefits Include: 75% Energy Saving 50-80% Tank Savings 50% More Capacity So how do you explore whether you should be considering OxyMem for driving efficiencies at your plant? The following 3 step process will help you quickly evaluate whether this area warrants further exploration.
Legislation puts pressure on legacy WWTP’s Some of the harshest wastewaters across the globe may be closer to home than you think. Thankfully, over the past few decades the world population has turned a corner in terms of increased environmental awareness and the need for a sustainable future. Formal environmental protection agencies and groups have been established, regionally and globally, to both protect ourselves and our natural resources. One area that has gained considerable attention is wastewater. Effluent discharges, especially those from companies into our streams, lakes and rivers are now under scrutiny. Though it has taken tens of years to arrive at this welcomed environmental awareness juncture, and no doubt will take considerably more years from now to engrain in our mindset, the reality is that this first step on this journey has been the easy one. Looking after our planet in a sustainable manner, though possible, is not easy. Step one, saying “we will take action” is always easy… The hard part comes after the decision to take action has been made. Solutions are then sought and when they are found they must be implemented. Not so easy as step one.
Increase Treatment Capacity, Increase Revenue The wastewater treatment facility is viewed only as the back end of industrial plants. To most, it holds no value. If an investor was to assess an industrial business for its current and potential future worth, he or she would simply note the fact that an asset or structure exists on site for treating a process by-product (wastewater). Few spot the opportunity that exists in this underutilized asset.
Time to Get Serious About Wastewater Treatment Why WasteWater Treatment Innovations Like MABR Can Transform Our Water According to the fourth World Water Development Report, only 20% of global wastewater is treated (UNESCO, 2012). The vast majority of wastewater is discharged directly into the environment without any form of treatment. Worldwide wastewater treatment is clearly inadequate and failing both society and the environment. Urban populations are projected to nearly double in the next 40 years, from 3.4 billion to over 6 billion people - but already most cities fail to provide adequate wastewater management due to absent, inadequate or aging sewage infrastructure (World Water Council, 2012). According to a recent UN-Water Analytical Brief, a paradigm shift is urgently required in water politics the world over to prevent further damage to sensitive ecosystems, and to the aquatic environment.
Bubble-less MABR system can reduce energy costs for wastewater aeration CREATING A BUBBLE-LESS AERATION OPTION The secondary or biological stage of traditional activated sludge wastewater treatment plants is where most of the energy is consumed. It far outweighs the operational costs of pumps, mixers, chemical addition, lighting, heating, etc. Oxygen needed by bacteria used in this stage is usually delivered in the form of atmospheric air, through mechanical equipment, and usually against a hydrostatic pressure created by four to six metres of water depth. Rotating blade mixers, jets and/or large blowers are needed to push air through this pressure (head), to ensure all bacteria receive sufficient oxygen.
