New upgrade delivers major benefits to key facility

At a water resource recovery facility (WRRF), sewage overspill on the floor and over your head was never a good way to start your day.
Septage brought in by haulers used to be dumped into a six-inch pipe that went directly into the city’s main influent line, perhaps inevitably, (around once per month) backing up the old bar screen and washer compactor, creating an overspill. Meanwhile, due to abrasive grit, leaks - sometimes in the form of small waterfalls, would occur in pipes above the Facility’s old garage/service building, showering unsuspecting staff with the less than pleasant contents of wastewater.
Now, thankfully, the dedicated team of operators have much better starts to their day as a result of a three and half year, two-phase upgrade.
Like all treatment facilities, challenges are just part of a working day, but new grit-removal equipment and Septage Acceptance Plant have removed those very unwelcome episodes at this busy plant.
The after-effects of high-strength, sometimes shock-loading was certainly an ongoing issue, as it battled to strike a balance between taking in septage as a more than useful income, against the downside of the...