In July 2009, a group of more than 70 leading nutrient removal experts gathered at the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant in Washington, DC. The Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) brought the group together for a workshop to assess the status of our battle to keep excessive nutrient levels from claiming the health of our natural water resources. This gathering of "nutrient warriors" couldn't have come at a better time. Landmark nutrient management activities are already underway. By Amit Pramanik and tacy Passaro, Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF)

With the introduction of new measurement technologies and the myriad of performance claims from sale literature, it’s easy to lose sight of the important elements that an effective flow meter offers no matter what technology is used. Long known for their longevity, reliability, and long term performance, Venturi meters provide the widest variety of measurement options in piped systems for liquids, gas, steam, and mixed media of any metering technology – all while offering the highest degree of traceable accuracy. By Primary Flow Signal, Inc.

A North Carolina hog grower with a brood barn of 200 full-grown sows contacted Reliant Water Technologies to see if we could assist him with one of his waste lagoons. The plan was to locate an aerator on one end of the lagoon and allow for the forward flow of water from a coarse bubble airlift to ‘push’ the water forward.

Wastewater treatment plant managers face multiple hurdles to achieving optimal dissolved oxygen levels in aeration basins at the lowest possible energy cost. The upside is that turbo blowers have evolved into a highly efficient, viable option that can be plugged into the equation.

When the Clean Water Act was enacted, one of the intentions of this legislation was to reduce the untreated industrial waste water burden on publically owned waste water treatment plants (POTW) so that industrial wastewater would only load the treatment plant to the same extent as ordinary household sanitary waste. Industrial facilities that generated process wastewater had to begin pre-treatment of the water before it could be returned to the local POTW.

Read about a utility that was looking for a quick, cost-effective yet resilient solution that would prevent the disruption of water service to the community and environment.

Real Ale Brewing Company (RABC) started as a small brewery working out of a commercial retail space. As the brewery outgrew their facility they purchased land on the outskirts of town and built a new brewery. Their production level was still low enough at this point for the city to allow direct access to sewer. As RABC continued to be successful and grow, a mandate from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality stated that the city must require the brewery to treat their wastewater in order to prevent overwhelming the city’s treatment system. RABC began the process of looking into available options for wastewater treatment. They had been introduced to ClearBlu Environmental at the Craft Brewers Conference in 2011 and after careful research the brewery selected ClearBlu to design and install a complete pretreatment and treatment system.

Produced water (PW) is salty water trapped in the reservoir rock and brought up along with oil or gas during production. It subsists under high pressures and temperatures, and usually contains hydrocarbons and metals. Therefore, it must be treated before being discharged to surface water. Different techniques are being used to treat PW through phase separations, system control and design, and chemical treatments. In this paper, we discuss our experimental results on treating PW through electrocoagulation (EC).

Aging, inefficient aerated grit facilities at North Davis Sewer District’s (NDSD) treatment plant headworks not surprisingly caused the typical headaches of poorly performing headworks:  downstream process tanks filled with grit and process equipment wore much faster than it should. And not surprisingly, it became a costly hassle for plant staff with annual basin cleanouts.

The West Central Conservancy District (WCCD), located in Hendricks County, IN, was formed to resolve sewer issues that the service area was experiencing with the local utilities company in the mid- ’80s.

Water and wastewater piping come in a variety of materials, joints, and diameters. They can meet a multitude of demands and needs for the country's infrastructure.

One of the most important measurements in the determination of the health of a body of water is its dissolved oxygen content. The quantity of dissolved oxygen in water is normally expressed in parts per million (ppm) by weight and is due to the solubility of oxygen from the atmosphere around us.

Anaerobic digestion processes that radically improve the quality of wastewater while delivering green energy extracted from biological waste streams are emerging as a profitable way for agricultural and food processing industries cope with the twin impact of drought and pollution challenges.

Cooling towers and boilers consume the most fresh water in the industry, with industrial process waters carrying the balance. Power plants and refineries use more water volume for the cooling process than any other area of the facility. Mining and food and beverage industries consume higher volumes for their processes. Clean water may come from a range of sources, including clarified surface waters, groundwater or properly treated wastewater (reuse) sources.

Energy costs continue to increase. At the same time, there is increased pressure to reduce utility bills without sacrificing operations or comfort.

Levels of phosphorus, a chemical element that promotes organic growth, must be controlled in wastewater coming from beverage, food and dairy processing plants. Failure to control phosphorus accurately has a negative impact on water quality and can lead to large fines.

Lack of sufficient straight pipe run made it impossible to successfully apply the preferred magnetic flow meter (magmeter) to accurately measure the flow of raw sewage.

This application profile focuses on two test sites with different treatment requirements and describes how Aqua-Aerobic Systems’ OptiFiber® pile cloth media filtration was used at both sites to address the removal of harmful constituents from refinery wastewater.

Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) analysis is the test everyone loves to hate—and for compelling reasons.