Facing expanding coverage territories and stricter regulations regarding the concentrations of nitrates and phosphorous in treated wastewater, the Wareham (Massachusetts) Water Pollution Control Facility (WPCF) led by Director Guy Camphina, Sr. recently turned to Water Warriors as a water treatment technology partner to meet its evolving needs.

The new technology aims to improve the facility’s water treatment output consistency while almost doubling the current capacity of 1.56 mgd without increasing the footprint of the plant facility itself.

The system upgrades — slated for spring 2018 completion by the U.S.-based Water Warriors — will retrofit the existing aeration and equalization basins using a two-technology system to substantially increase both the volume of water that can be treated and the relative amount of nutrients that will be removed from the water.

Currently, the facility is required to meet minimum total nitrogen concentration of 4 mg/L during the peak months of April through October, but soon may be required to meet these minimums year round.

To achieve the plant’s needs, Water Warriors will use its newly introduced SuperBiomedia moving bed film bioreactor and Waving Biomedia designed specifically to improve the performance of currently operating wastewater aeration basins and lagoons.

Additionally, an advanced aeration system design will allow the influent wastewater flow to be treated at twice the current influent capacity, addressing the increased volume demands that will be placed on the system as new territories are added to the Wareham water coverage area.

“Our number one job is to protect Buzzards Bay and the surrounding water sources,” says Campinha. “We can only accomplish that by thinking decades ahead, anticipating and addressing potential capacity and pollutant challenges before they become a regulatory problem, or worse, damage the environment.”

The Wareham WPCF is heralded as a leading water treatment example by the U.S. EPA. The town updated its facility in 2005 in advance of regulations placed on all water treatment facilities in Massachusetts, which placed the seasonal limits for nitrogen and phosphorus in effluent. Those regulations could soon become year round to more effectively reduce the nutrient impact on the Wareham River estuary and the affected watershed. “The new system will allow us to provide service to more customers while simultaneously improving the output of all the water we treat,” says Campinha.

Campinha isn’t just thinking about protecting Buzzards Bay. The project has been accepted as participant in WE&RF’s Leaders Innovation Forum for Technology (LIFT) Technology Scans program. This program oversees the testing and results gathering of emerging commercialized water technology programs and makes those results available to other industrial and municipal water treatment entities.

“I am an enthusiastic supporter of sharing these results and the technology that produces them with my peers,” says Campinha. “This isn’t about the impact of our water treatment processes in my lifetime, it is about making sure our grandchildren and their grandchildren have the same access to water that we enjoy today.”

LIFT Technology Scans has engaged more than 350 water facility owners to introduce new and innovative technologies. Once identified, the wastewater treatment technology provider is invited to present to the appropriate LIFT audience to garner interest. During this process, WE&RF assists in developing and managing peer-reviewed technology evaluations.

Dr. Rakesh Govind, chief technology officer at Water Warriors Inc., will present this technology at WEFTEC 2017. To learn more about Water Warriors waving biomedia, visit www.waterwarriorsbiomedia.com.