The City of Gallatin, Tenn., which previously landfilled Class B biosolids at a cost of $250,000 per year, now uses a lime stabiliation process to create Class A material for free distribution to the public.
The 4.5 mgd (average dry weather) wastewater treatment plant in Gallatin sends process sludges to aerobic digesters. A centrifuge then dewaters the material into cake that goes through the lime stabilization process and then into a warehouse for storage for 72 hours. The material looks like sand and has the consistency of cornmeal, according to chief wastewater plant operator Brandon Traughber. It contains about 2 percent nitrogen.
The $6.6 million biosolids plant is a two-story structure with a 6,600-square-foot dewatering facility and a 16,000-square-foot stabilization building. It opened May 9 and is part of a new $30 million treatment plant. The city now processes about 120 tons of Class A material per week.
You can read more in The Tennessean newspaper at http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120514/GALLATIN01/305140054/New-biosolids-plant-offers-free-sludge.
]]>TAGRO potting soil is designed for flower and vegetable gardens, especially raised beds. It can be used for indoor or outdoor container gardens, in greenhouses, or in pots larger than 8 inches in diameter. The product is made of 20 percent Class A biosolids, 20 percent high-quality sawdust, and 60 percent aged bark.
Consumers in the greater Tacoma area have been using environmentally friendly TAGRO products in landscaping and vegetable gardens since 1991. Products are available year-round for pickup or delivery. Visit www.tagro.com.
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“The unit is lubrication-free, making it the first daily-maintenance-free pumped-flow rotating drum screen," says Serdar Umur, product manager. A typical rotating drum screen requires periodic maintenance to counteract friction and normal wear and tear on metallic components. Without maintenance, such a unit can suffer heat buildup and erosion, leading to increased power consumption and premature failure.
The new system eliminates frequent lubrication and maintenance by incorporating nonmetallic components in the wheel bearings and other key areas. “The unit's drive system features polymeric components that greatly reduce wear and prevent severe erosion between the coupled components,” said Umur.
The product line was developed after gathering data from Rotoshear operators to explore ways to make the system more operator-friendly. The system offers easy access to all major system components. The screen is available in more than a dozen configurations, with many application-specific custom features. Visit www.parkson.com.
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A recently completed reconnaissance study detected hundreds of these contaminants in water samples collected from wastewater treatment plant effluent and storm runoff from roads and other urban environments in nine cities that line the Columbia River in Oregon and Washington, according to a USGS press release. The nine cities, in downstream order, are Wenatchee, Richland, Umatilla, The Dalles, Hood River, Portland, Vancouver, St. Helens, and Longview.
“Many of these toxic pollutants are not removed by normal purification processes in municipal waste water treatment plants, and for that reason it is wise to think twice before washing or flushing anything down the drain that can harm the environment,” said USGS director Marcia McNutt. “After all, the fish from the Columbia River find their way to many dinner plates, thus we want to be sure that their home waters are as clean and healthy as possible.”
The USGS study, done in cooperation with Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission and the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership, can help water managers and policy makers in the lower Columbia basin make decisions about how to proceed with toxics-reduction activities, the agency stated.
“Hundreds of fish and wildlife species, including 12 stocks of threatened and endangered salmonids, rely on the Columbia River ecosystem for their food sources and habitat, so toxic contamination is a significant concern in the basin,” said Jennifer Morace, a hydrologist with the USGS and principal investigator for the study. "We need to know what’s getting into the river and where it’s coming from. This study was a first step toward finding out.”
Among the contaminants found in samples from wastewater treatment plants were personal care products, plasticizers, industry-related compounds, pharmaceuticals, PCBs, polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDEs, which are flame-retardants), organochlorine or legacy compounds, currently used pesticides, mercury, and estrogenic compounds. The wastewater treatment plant study analyzed for 210 of these compounds and detected 112, or 53 percent.
Analysis of storm runoff yielded 114 (58 percent), of the 195 compounds tested for, including PCBs, PBDEs, organochlorine compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), currently used pesticides, trace elements, mercury, and oil and grease. Most of the compounds detected in the treatment-plant effluent were found at all of the plants, whereas the compounds in storm runoff varied among locations. This result was expected given the variety of sources for the runoff.
The amounts found in the study would be small when diluted by the Columbia River, but could be significant locally, near the sources. “Many of the compounds we detected are assimilated by lower organisms and concentrated up the food chain to top predators, including humans,” said Morace.
Debrah Marriott, executive director of the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership, stated, “Our partnership with the USGS has led to key insights that have helped us understand the scope of toxic contamination in the Columbia River, a key step to reducing contaminants and improving water quality.”
Paul Lumley, executive director of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, observed, “Toxics are among the largest threats to the Columbia River ecosystem. This report clearly demonstrates what is entering the Columbia River system. Now that we understand how toxics have made their way in to our river system, we must take immediate action to address the sources of contamination and begin clean up. As tribal members, we have always been taught that healthy ecosystems and healthy communities begin with healthy water.”
The results of the study can be viewed in USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2012–5068, “Reconnaissance of Contaminants in Selected Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluent and Stormwater Runoff Entering the Columbia River, Columbia River Basin, Washington and Oregon, 2008–10.” It can be accessed online at www.usgs.gov.
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The sludge pumping handbook includes details about the advantages of different pump types for transporting sludge and how to estimate the required pump head pressure in a sludge transportation system. It also includes case histories from Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and the UK.
Magnus Fahlgren, M.Sc., mechanical engineer and executive editor at Xylem, said, “Increasing awareness about environmental issues is one of the factors driving the development of more efficient pollution treatment methods. This has resulted in the enhanced removal of organic solids from liquid streams, which in turn has led to an increased interest in systems for sludge transportation.
“With this handbook we are sharing with our clients and customers the expertise and insight we have gathered over the years about sludge, its many and varied characteristics and the best ways we have found of managing and transporting it.
The mixing handbook combines theoretical background, application guidelines, and step-by-step recommendations for submersible, jet and top-entry mixers. Its more than 300 pages include some over 250 sketches, computational fluid dynamics diagrams, and other visuals, as well as previously unpublished scientific and technical content. The handbook will be available in the third quarter of 2012. Visit www.flygt.com.
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Version 7.3 introduces new features including support for using WIMS online on the Apple iPad mobile device, support of the MS SQL Server 2012 Express 10GB database, 20 new or enhanced regulatory templates for water and wastewater compliance reporting, enhanced printer and data entry functions, and easy report generation with six new built-in one-click reports:
New customers will automatically receive the latest version. Existing customers on support can download the update from the customer support portal. Hach WIMS Version 7.3 is available now by contacting iimsupport@hach.com or 800-677-0067.
]]>A successful public/private partnership in sustainable technology continued between Clean Water Services and Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies with the unveiling of the world's largest municipal nutrient recovery facility on May 8 at the Rock Creek Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility in Hillsboro, Ore.
Clean Water Services' Rock Creek Nutrient Recovery Facility uses the Ostara Pearl nutrient recovery process to capture phosphorus and nitrogen from wastewater and transform them into Crystal Green slow-release fertilizer, sold throughout the country. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined Oregon State Treasurer Ted Wheeler and Clean Water Services chairman Andy Duyck for the grand opening ceremony.
The Pearl process benefits Clean Water Services by reducing operations and maintenance costs, increasing plant capacity and providing revenue from fertilizer sales. Cost savings and revenue are projected to pay off the new $4.475 million facility in six years. The recovery of phosphorus and nitrogen from the wastewater stream also helps Clean Water Services meet stringent nutrient limits (the Rock Creek Facility must not exceed 0.1 mg/L of total phosphorus discharge) and further protects the Tualatin Watershed.
The project was granted an Oregon Department of Energy Business Energy Tax Credit of $1.12 million that helped fund construction. The facility requires one-seventh the energy to create 1,200 tons of Crystal Green as it takes to create an equal amount of conventional fertilizer.
“Our partnership with Ostara is a natural progression of the work we do at Clean Water Services,” said general manager Bill Gaffi. “The cleaned water we produce at this facility is enhanced by the Ostara system and eliminates pollutants, providing life-giving flow to the Tualatin River. In addition, the Ostara system saves our ratepayers money by reducing our electrical and chemical usage, and through the shared revenue stream from the sale of Crystal Green.”
Based on the successful operation of Ostara's nutrient recovery technology at Clean Water Services’ Durham Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility, this second installation of the Pearl technology includes two fluidized bed reactors, each with four times the capacity of the reactors at Durham.
The Rock Creek system will generate 1,200 tons of Crystal Green per year, versus 500 tons at Durham facility. Clean Water Services is now the world’s largest municipal producer of Crystal Green, used in nurseries, lawn landscape, and turf applications.
A common challenge for wastewater treatment facilities such as Rock Creek is the over-accumulation of phosphorus in the system, resulting in the formation of struvite scale, a concrete-like mineral deposit that congests processing equipment. The Pearl process helps Clean Water Services overcome these challenges by recovering of up to 90 per cent of the phosphorus and 20 per cent of the nitrogen from the wastewater stream.
Clean Water Services serves 536,000 people in urban Washington County and small portions of Multnomah County, Clackamas County, Lake Oswego, and Portland. It operates four wastewater treatment plants, constructs and maintains drainage management and water quality projects, and manages flow in the Tualatin River to improve water quality and protect fish habitat. Visit www.cleanwaterservices.org.
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The 4530 is a submersible mixer with a robust, high-efficiency propeller nearly 4 feet in diameter. Typical applications include mixing in activated sludge processes, sludge holding tanks and digesters.
“This mixer has been developed for applications where a full-size, low-speed mixer is too large, and yet there is space for something larger than a compact mixer,” said Andreas Lindberg, product manager. “The Flygt 4530 is built on the same drive unit as the Flygt 4400 series, which has proven to be extremely reliable throughout the industry.
“It is very easy to replace an existing mixer with the Flygt 4530. It can be easily installed on a wall-mounted single guide bar, just like a compact mixer. This rapid, straightforward installation helps to reduce the staff time and budget required for a changeover.”
Xylem offers a wide range of mixers, including submersibles, jet mixers, and top entry agitators. The Flygt 4530 is available in 4.3 kW (50 Hz) and 4.6 kW/6.2 hp (60 Hz) models, both delivering a thrust range of 900 to 2200 Newtons.
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