Construction Underway Of Full-Scale BioCord Reactor System To Cost-Effectively Expand Treatment Capacity At Limoges WWTF

Construction is underway of a full-scale Bishop BioCord Reactor system to upgrade the capacity and performance of the Limoges Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF) in The Nation Municipality, located 45 minutes east of Ottawa.

The low capital and operating cost of the BioCord system enabled The Nation Municipality to cost-effectively extend the life of its treatment plant and avoid the high cost of replacing the lagoons with a complex mechanical treatment plant. The Nation Municipality, along with the project engineer R.V. Anderson Associates Limited, had evaluated several treatment options that could accommodate residential and commercial growth in the community before selecting the BioCord Reactor system.

“The Nation Municipality is always striving to introduce new technologies that will result in lower capital and maintenance costs, and provide a higher quality effluent from the Limoges wastewater treatment facility,” said Mayor Francois St Amour.

Manufactured in Ontario by Bishop Water Technologies, BioCord is a simple, easy-to-operate fixed-film treatment process. The BioCord system uses strands of densely arranged loops of polymer fibres suspended from free-standing frames to provide a massive surface area on which preferred, naturally occurring bacteria can grow.

With an optimized BioCord system, wastewater lagoons can accept greater nutrient loading, decrease retention times and improve effluent quality—especially in cold-weather conditions, when treatment typically becomes more difficult for conventional lagoon systems.

“Bishop BioCord Reactors provide growing communities with a cost-effective option to increase the treatment capacity of a wastewater lagoon without taking on the burden of high capital and long-term operating costs that come with many mechanical treatment plants,” said Kevin Bossy, CEO of Bishop Water Technologies. “BioCord’s simple, self-regulating process also aligns well with the way wastewater lagoons are typically managed, which means operators can quickly learn how to run the BioCord system and how to optimize it to provide consistent, reliable performance under all conditions.”

Expand secondary treatment without increasing process footprint
Sixty BioCord reactors will be installed directly into two new lagoon cells that will be created by dividing a large existing cell. Baffle curtains will also be added into the new cells to direct the flow of wastewater through a channel of BioCord Reactors, increase the retention time and prevent short circuiting.

This configuration provides significant reductions in capital costs since no increase in lagoon footprint or addition of sidestream process tanks are needed for the BioCord system to enhance the secondary treatment process. BioCord’s modular, scalable design also enables secondary treatment capacity to be easily expanded by simply installing additional reactors to achieve the required performance.

Once installed and active, BioCord’s unique, integrated aeration system produces abundant microbubbles that provide high oxygen transfer for the microbial biofilm, while also mixing the activated sludge and scouring excess biofilm from the BioCord.

Project construction is being managed by Ottawa-based general contractor Thomas Fuller Construction Ltd., and is scheduled to be completed in August 2020.

About Bishop Water Technologies
Bishop Water Technologies provides simple, reliable nutrient removal and solids management solutions that enable communities and industries to affordably solve water and wastewater challenges while protecting the environment. Hundreds of sites trust our low-energy, low-complexity customizable solutions to deliver robust performance and easy operation with low capital and operating costs. Our highly experienced and talented team relentlessly supports our clients and works collaboratively with like-minded, environmentally focused partners to continuously enhance the performance, value and sustainability of our solutions portfolio. For more information, visit www.bishopwater.ca.