Bioremediation
Webinar video highlights key findings—including $6M in savings—from a year-long bioremediation program for lagoon sludge reduction at a municipal wastewater treatment plant.
In this 31-minute video, Heather Jennings, PE, Director of Probiotic Solutions®, and Diego Lopez, Chief Plant Operator for the City of Lemoore, Calif., Wastewater Treatment Plant discuss highlights from the year-long study of a bioremediation program (using Bio Energizer®) for lagoon sludge reduction at a municipal wastewater treatment plant.
In the study, the operators of a municipal wastewater treatment facility with 4 lagoons had determined that their 2 primary lagoons—10-foot-deep, with 25-million-gallon holding capacity each—had reached sludge depths of 5–7 feet, putting the lagoons at risk of upset and seriously impacting the facility’s wastewater processing capacity.
A bioremediation plan was implemented that included the use of a biostimulant to support microbial reduction of the organic solids in the system. Sludge judging was performed for the 2 primary lagoons at baseline and at quarterly intervals over a one-year period to measure the impact of the bioremediation plan on sludge reduction.
The results of ATP and DNA analyses pointed out the often-misunderstood fact that wastewater treatment facility lagoon sludge is not inert: it is the most biologically active layer of the water column and can be efficiently controlled and reduced through proper bioremediation interventions
At the end of the one-year bioremediation plan, sludge depth for the 2 lagoons had been reduced by an average of 45%, with sludge depth at some sample points completely reduced to zero. This represented 17,800 dry tons of sludge that did not need to be mechanically removed and hauled to a disposal location, a potential savings to the treatment facility of over $6 million.
To read the full report in the Lagoons: Under the Surface white paper, CLICK HERE.
by Heather Jennings, PE
. . . the lagoon sludge layer, that is. I’ve seen many lagoons full of sludge, and the general attitude I find in the water industry is that the sludge layer is inert and really can only be mechanically dredged. To a certain point, that is correct: sand, soil, grit, plastics—basically inorganics—do need to be mechanically dredged. The organics, on the other hand, don’t, and they are easily removed with bioremediation. Continue Reading
As winter loses its grip on us and we move toward spring, it’s finally time to start monitoring lagoons for seasonal turnover and stricter permit requirements. It’s also a great time to start bioremediation of your lagoon organic sludge!
With warmer weather it is easy to capitalize on those microorganisms that have been suppressed during the cooler months. A good example of this is a system we worked with in New Mexico that was dealing with irregular sludge build-up in their three lagoons. The system was modified to run in series relative to the influent rather than the short circuiting that took the first pond out of use. A 6-month test (later extended to 300 days) was developed in which Bio Energizer®, a bio stimulant, was administered to make nutrients more available to wastewater microorganisms.
Results: Pond 1 had a 12% sludge reduction, Pond 2 had a 36% reduction, and Pond 3 had a 24% reduction. The great thing is that no dredging expense was necessary, just daily application of Bio Energizer®.
To download/read the case study. click here for English or here for Spanish.
Two specific Probiotic Solutions® liquid bioremediation products were used at a large-scale paper mill in China to address system upsets caused by hydraulic loading from new upstream processes.
The products involved are Bio Energizer® (BE)—a scientific formulation of organic acids, buffers, natural biological stimulants, micronutrients, and energy systems—and Micatrol® (MT), a specialized product that uses organic acid as a substrate to buffer wastewater microbial life. Both BE and MT are complexed with our proprietary Micro Carbon Technology® (MCT) to deliver readily bioavailable nutrients to microorganisms. [Read more…]
Heather Jennings, PE, Sr. Project Engineer, Probiotic Solutions®
AbstractIn this study, the operators of a municipal wastewater treatment facility with 4 lagoons had determined that their 2 primary lagoons—10-foot-deep, with 25-million-gallon holding capacity each—had reached sludge depths of 5–7 feet, putting the lagoons at risk of upset and seriously impacting the facility’s wastewater processing capacity. Continue Reading
Bio Energizer® Reduces Sludge Over 40% at Utah Municipal WTPThe case study described below was a project that I worked on with a small-lagoon municipal system so overwhelmed with solids that state action was being taken. The ducks on the other side of the lagoon from me literally looked as though they were walking on the water surface! Honestly, that was a new one for me. We can help prevent solids buildup with little capital costs and time! The case study is below. [Read more…]
The wastewater treatment facility operators at a city in Missouri wanted better digester performance. They needed a better settling sludge and a higher volume of decants, as well as more room to waste sludge within their existing digesters. The options to dispose of the digested sludge were becoming more and more scarce.
After trialing 3 products, they found BIO ENERGIZER® reduced their solids the best. Significant improvement in settling as well as a significant reduction in the total solids occurred in their digesters. They have achieved up to 85% volatile solids destruction using BIO ENERGIZER®. Another benefit that the City has gained is increased decant volumes. The City has doubled the number of decants by using BIO ENERGIZER® compared with other products previously used. This all results in lower hauling and handling costs. All it takes is a peristaltic pump and the product to get you similar savings! [Read more…]
by Heather Jennings, PEThe case summary described below is an example of how our Bio Energizer® product helped reduce overall solids handling and improved supernatant clarity. It really doesn’t take much Bio Energizer® to reduce solids within your system when the microbial community is stimulated or “kicked into gear” to do their job. Typically, in anaerobic digestion we dose between 1–2 gallons/MGD. This system had 250,000 gpd and, after an initial dose of 2 gallons, they added 7 oz/day of the product for 60 days in their primary digester. The results? The volume of each decant was double the normal volume, and they had half the solids loading with an average of 0.21% solids. Continuously using the product over two years yielded a net savings of $1,024/ month! [Read more…]
A wastewater treatment plant in Pennsylvania was experiencing process control problems when new potato waste stream flows increased by 26%. The additional load was causing filamentous issues in the sequencing batch reactor (SBR), settlability problems, and increased sludge hauling costs.
The engineer was unable to maintain the 8-foot decant level in the sequencing batch reactor (SBR). He couldn’t decant more than 2–3 feet under the excess load.
Read more about reducing sludge handling costs
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