Wastewater treatment plants near Green Bay, Wis., could receive a reprieve from phosphorus discharge standards. A bill introduced by State Sen. Rob Cowles would permit treatment plants and other phosphorus producers to postpone compliance by paying fees that support manure runoff reduction. To meet current standards, NEW Water would have to invest more than $200 million to install filtration technology for its De Pere and Green Bay plants. Senator Cowles argues such standards are expensive and yield only tiny reductions. Other organizations in the state, such as Wisconsin Lakes, oppose the bill.

Source: PostCrescent.com

San Diego Pushes For Wastewater Recycling Plant

Extreme drought conditions and expensive water imports have triggered a discussion on wastewater reuse in San Diego, Calif. The city’s Water Policy Implementation Task Force recently recommended the city move forward with a proposed wastewater recycling plant, similar to its northern neighbor, the Orange County Water District. The proposed 15 mgd facility would cost $370 million.

Source: ABC 10 News 

Study Says: Aerated Lagoons Could Provide Biofuel

Biofuel from aerated wastewater lagoons could supplement local energy supplies, according to a Clarkson University doctoral student. Stefanie Kring, an environmental science and engineering student, spent her summer visiting Canton, N.Y., wastewater treatment lagoons to research biofuel content of microbes. Her analysis showed that low predation in the lagoons caused a robust zooplankton population. The study concluded that biofuel could be derived from other organisms in aerated wastewater lagoons. “It will be less energy intensive to remove larger zooplankton from the water column than microscopic algae,” Kring says in her report.

Source: Watertown Daily Times

Crustaceans Clean Wastewater, Recover Metals

For years, scientists have known crustaceans are effective at natural water filtration. Now, researchers are using those characteristics to clean almost any contaminated water, from sewage to the acidic runoff of mining operations. Canadian biotechnology company NanoStruck Technology, which is focused on the capture and removal of toxic pollutants in the wastewater stream, uses “absorptive organic polymers derived from crustacean shells or plant fibers,” to create biofilters that remove contaminates from water. NanoStruck adjusts the molecular density of the polymers to remove unwanted materials such as acids, hydrocarbons, pathogens, oils and toxins in water. According to the company’s website, NanoStruck is discussing long-term contracts with several sewage treatment plants.

Source: wealthdaily.com

Solar Array To Power New Hampshire Wastewater Plant

A $1.2 million state grant will help fund New Hampshire’s largest solar array. The array, which will produce a capacity of 1 megawatt of electricity, will cover about 3.5 acres of the town’s former sewage lagoons near the wastewater treatment plant. The grant will go to Borrego Solar, a Lowell Mass., company, which will install panels at the brownfield site. According to Peterborough Public Works Director Rodney Bartlett, much of the energy produced will power the wastewater plant. “It’s a brownfield site that will be reused as an energy producing site,” Bartlett says. “That’s a great innovation.”

Source: Ledger Transcript