Upgrading An Existing UV System To Ensure Successful Wastewater Treatment In Washington State

When a municipal wastewater treatment plant in Washington state needed to replace parts for its aging disinfection system, operators instead chose to refurbish the facility with modern ultraviolet technology. Discharging effluent into a local river that feeds the ecologically sensitive Puget Sound, the plant required a reliable solution capable of handling a peak flow capacity of 28.02 MGD while strictly meeting a treatment standard of 100 Fecal Coliform per 100 ml.

The upgrade centered on a two-row UV system designed with 80 lamps distributed across four banks. This configuration successfully manages current flow rates and leaves dedicated space for a future bank expansion to scale up to 42.0 MGD. By utilizing advanced lamp technology, the facility dramatically improved its energy efficiency and simplified daily maintenance.

To prevent any operational downtime during construction, the new infrastructure was seamlessly retrofitted into abandoned chlorine contact chambers. This clever installation strategy allowed the existing system to remain fully operational until the high-efficiency upgrade took over, delivering immediate power savings upon startup.

Read this case study to examine the full system design parameters and discover how modern UV retrofits optimize municipal energy budgets.