|
The wastewater treatment plant at Siloam Springs is looking to implement a technology that will limit the amount of phosphorus flowing from its discharge into Sager Creek, an Illinois River water source. It will be the only municipal wastewater infrastructure in Oklahoma and Arkansas to utilize Membrane Bioreactor technology.
In 2002, the Environmental Protection Agency set in motion a mandate requiring wastewater treatment plants to reduce their phosphorus output to less than 0.037 milligrams per liter of water by 2012. Garver began working with Siloam Springs to research a young technology that will drop the discharged phosphorus-level below 0.037 mg/L. The technology utilizes two methods, Biological Nutrient Removal and a Membrane Operating System.
The technology uses membrane, a man-made material with microscopic pores that blocks desired agents but allows water to pass through the system. In essence, the wastewater is forced through filters that work like a screen window. Permitable substances pass through the material while the phosphorus is hindered in its passage.
This filtering and scrubbing process reduces the levels of phosphorus before the discharge and also helps remove nitrates, ammonia, turbidity, copper, and Chlorophyll-A. The Membrane Operating System is often used to generate drinking water.
A pilot study was conducted at the plant by two membrane manufacturing companies, Zenon/General Electric, and Memcor/Siemens Products. The two manufacturers created two pilot-sized secondary plants at the wastewater site to test the technology.
The four-phase, six-month pilot study verified the process. Data collected from the study concluded that by marrying the technologies, the phosphorus level both met and exceeded the 0.037 mg/L level. The average low fell well below 0.037 mg/L for both pilot plants, coming in around 0.02 mg/L of phosphorus. |
