News | April 6, 2009

Veolia Water Technologies/John Meunier Inc. Commissions Its First BIOSTYR® BAF At The Ravensview Wastewater Treatment Plant In Kingston

Source: Veolia Water Technologies

Ville St-Laurent - Veolia Water Technologies / John Meunier Inc. is proud to announce the start-up of its first BIOSTYR® Biological Aerated Filter in Canada at the Ravensview Wastewater Treatment Plant in Kingston, Ontario.

BIOSTYR® Biological Aerated Filters
BAFs (Biological Aerated Filters) are compact treatment processes, which combine filtration and aerobic/anoxic treatment using a fixed-film biological degradation process. The BIOSTYR® BAF uses floating polystyrene media comprised of individual spherical beads as the support for biofilm growth. Wastewater is fed in an upflow manner through the BIOSTYR® resulting in biological abatement of the pollution as well as physical filtration of suspended solids. Space restrictions at the construction site necessitated a compact and efficient biological treatment technology.

”We validated the performance of the BIOSTYR® process through pilot scale testing before we went ahead with the purchase”, said Allen Lucas from Utilities Kingston, ”and we were very satisfied with the performance of the technology as well as with the level of support and service that we received from Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies/John Meunier Inc.”

As a result, a total of eleven (11) BIOSTYR® cells are being implemented to remove dissolved contaminants and provide high-level treatment. This will be one of the largest Biological Aerated Filter applications in North America for secondary treatment.

Ravensview Water Pollution Control Plant
“With a budget of $115 million, upgrading the Ravensview plant is the largest capital project ever undertaken by the City of Kingston”, noted Allen Lucas. Funding for this project was also made available through the Canada Strategic Infrastructure Fund and also from the Province of Ontario.

The prime objectives of this upgrade are:

  • To conform to current Provincial and Federal environmental policies and requirements, achieving a measurable improvement of the effluent quality through the addition of secondary treatment with the BIOSTYR® process.
  • To increase the plant's capacity by approximately 30% to accommodate continued growth and development within the City of Kingston over the next 25 years.

“The BIOSTYR® technology was a perfect fit for the Ravensview upgrade project in Kingston, but we pride ourselves on having a vast array of technologies that we can call upon to respond to each of our clients’ specific needs”, stated Dave Oliphant, Regional Sales Manager for Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies/John Meunier Inc. “Once completed, Ravensview will ensure superior treatment of Kingston’s wastewater before discharge to Lake Ontario at the head of the St. Lawrence River, returning to the water its natural resource quality for the benefit of the environment and downstream communities”, explains Jim Keech, President and CEO of Utilities Kingston.

Commissioning of the BIOSTYR®
The construction of the concrete cells, the aeration grids, the instrumentation and control were completed over the course of the summer of 2008 and finished in August 2008. The start-up of the biological process started in September 2008 and has gone very well. The seeding of the biological process was very rapid; carbonaceous pollution removal was established one week after start-up and nitrification three weeks after start-up.

Process performance tests commenced on February 17th, 2009, consisting of a 3 day trial which successfully demonstrated the process design and officially the commissioning and start-up was complete, further testing and verification of the process will continue over the next 12 months.

About Veolia Water Technologies / John Meunier Inc.
Veolia Water Technologies/John Meunier Inc., is a leader in water and wastewater treatment solutions. In Canada, it has been serving municipalities and industries since 1948 with state-of-the-art technologies such as ACTIFLO®, BIOSTYR®, Escalator® and headworks equipment, FluidSep® and stormwater/CSO equipment, instrumentation and chemical dosing systems, as well as a team of experienced water and wastewater treatment professionals. Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies is the technologies subsidiary of Veolia Water. Veolia Water, the water division of Veolia Environnement, is the world leader in water services. Veolia Water, with revenue of more than €12.6 billion in 2008, operates in 57 countries, serves 108 million people, and employs 93,400 employees. Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies is the world’s largest designer of technological solutions and constructor of water treatment facilities for both municipalities and industry.

Veolia Environnement is the largest environmental services company in the world, with more than 336,000 employees in over 67 countries and annual revenues of more than €36.2 billion in 2008.

SOURCE: Veolia Water Technologies