To the editor:
I have enjoyed receiving TPO magazine this past year, and I have signed up for another subscription. One of our biggest challenges is bio-nutrient removal.
The present permit requires monitoring of nitrates, nitrites, TKN and phosphorus. We are attempting to keep our annual average of total nitrogen under 8 mg/l and phosphorus under 1.5 mg/l. I was looking forward to having five years to experiment with methods to meet these targets, but we were robbed of over one year because of an epic flood that functionally destroyed our facility.
From July 2007 to September 2008 we limped along using lagoons and temporarily rigged basin aeration for process treatment. After the rebuilt plant went back online in September 2008, we began to regroup and get a handle on our nitrogen and phosphorus levels. If you could include articles on what plants are doing to control these bio-nutrients, especially with equipment already on hand, that would be helpful.
I noticed in the December issue editorial that some readers have expressed a desire for more articles on industrial treatment. That would be fine as long as you don’t shift the focus away from the municipal plants. It seems I read many more articles in other trade journals covering the industrial side, but very few except for this magazine focus on municipal plants.
Keep up what you are doing.
Kenney Farmer
Chief Operator,
Independence (Kan.) WWTP
