Wastewater Plant Cuts Mechanical Aeration Run Time With Solar-Powered Circulation Technology

By: Michael Christensen, SolarBee, Inc.

In the Buckeye State, the village of St. Henry, OH, is bucking the trend of many rural farming communities. Instead of losing residents and local businesses to bigger cities, this community is growing. Local industries such as turkey processing are expanding as well. Consequently, the city of 2,700 was outgrowing the capacity of its wastewater treatment plant. Instead of adding energy-consuming aeration equipment, they saved $100,000 in capital equipment costs by adding solar-powered circulation equipment to the existing plant.

"The problem with the old system was that it was undersized," said Stan Sutter, public utilities supervisor for St. Henry. "We needed more aeration, and we needed a new cell for extra storage capacity."