The Hidden Costs Of Aeration

Achieving Lowest Total Cost Of Operation Requires A Three-Pronged Approach: Blower Selection, Right-Sizing, And Smart Control Systems

There are roughly 16,000 municipal wastewater treatment plants in operation throughout the United States. Many of those plants are operating with old, inefficient technology, in the form of oversized positive displacement (PD) blowers or oversized single- or multistage centrifugal blowers. Systems designed 20 years ago to accommodate projected population growth or anticipated commercial demand may find themselves with more aeration capacity than they will ever need. Even plants where peak demand closely matches peak design routinely run their blowers at higher air flows than necessary, whether because of the inconvenience of turning blowers down and back up several times a day, or out of concern over being caught unprepared for a spike in flow or BOD. This over-aeration results in energy waste during periods of normal and low demand.