If there’s a great before and after story
in municipal wastewater treatment, it could be Kankakee, Illinois.
Before 2010, the Kankakee River Metropolitan Agency used aging primary, secondary, and disinfection processes to treat wastewater from the city of Kankakee and the neighboring villages of Bradley, Bourbonnais and Aroma Park. Biosolids were anaerobically digested, and biogas fired an inefficient cogeneration system that could supply only a small portion of the plant’s power and heat.
“The last major improvements occurred in 1988,” says Richard Simms, executive director. “Some equipment dated to 1936, and wet-weather management was an issue.”
Then, facing new requirements for ammonia removal,
