SUEZ's ZeeLung Selected For World's Largest Project Of Its Kind In Canada

The Region of Waterloo has selected SUEZ’s ZeeLung technology to equip what will be the largest Membrane Aerated Biofilm Reactor (MABR) system in the world at the Hespeler Wastewater Treatment Plant, in Ontario. The innovative technology will support the regional government’s objectives to deliver better water quality while improving nutrient removal, reducing energy and maximizing the treatment capacity and performance from existing assets.

“This is a first-of-its-kind project for Canada that will demonstrate ZeeLung’s benefits: the ability to quickly and easily upgrade existing wastewater treatment plants on a cost-effective basis, with little disruption to on-going operations,” said Kevin Cassidy, executive vice president engineered systems for SUEZ – Water Technologies & Solutions. “The technology allows customers to increase the treatment capacity of their plants, for a better water quality in a compact footprint while also reducing energy consumption.”

ZeeLung technology is used to upgrade conventional activated sludge plants for nutrient removal and capacity expansion. ZeeLung employs a gas permeable media to deliver oxygen to a biofilm that is attached to the media surface. Oxygen is delivered through the media by molecular diffusion, which is done without the use of bubbles. In conventional wastewater treatment, 60% of the energy used is consumed by blowers that deliver bubbles to provide the oxygen necessary for the biological process. With ZeeLung technology, oxygen is delivered without bubbles, which reduces the energy required for oxygen transfer by up to 4-times. This allows plants to significantly reduce their energy footprint while also increasing capacity and improving treatment quality.

The Region of Waterloo, in southwestern Ontario serves a total population of more than 600,000 people using its 13 wastewater treatment plants to process 180 million litres of wastewater per day. To meet the projected population growth, the secondary treatment process of the Hespeler plant has to be upgraded. The new contract follows an 8-month pilot which demonstrated the ZeeLung technology and refined the design for full-scale implementation.

When commissioned in 2021, the 9.34 MLD upgrade will be the largest implementation of MABR technology in the world.