The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) is set to start work on two massive environmental projects at the 370 mgd Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant.
DC Water will become the first in North America to use thermal hydrolysis for wastewater treatment. When completed, it will be the largest thermal hydrolysis plant in the world. The process will “pressure-cook” wastewater solids to produce combined heat and power, generating 13 MW of electricity for $10 million in savings annually).
“DC Water is the largest consumer of electricity in the District of Columbia, and the digesters should cut our consumption by a third,” said general manager George Hawkins. “That’s enough to power 8,000 homes. We’re also saving $10 million in trucking costs and reducing our carbon emissions by cutting the amount of solids at the end of the process in half.”
In addition, enhanced nutrient removal (ENR) facilities will reduce nitrogen in effluent to meet the new U.S. EPA and Chesapeake Bay Program goals of 4.7 million pounds per year or less in 2014. “The ENR facilities are the result of years of technology research performed at Blue Plains,” said chairman William M. Walker. “Blue Plains was the first to reach the 2010 Chesapeake Bay Program goals for nitrogen reduction, and we’re well on track to be the first for the next round.”
These projects are slated for completion in 2014. For more information, visit www.dcwater.com.
