Evaluation of Performance and Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Plants Achieving Low Phosphorus Effluents

Abstract

This project included evaluation of operational practices and performance results for wastewater treatment plants designed to meet very low effluent total phosphorus (TP) concentrations. As stringent phosphorus limits of 0.1 mg/L and lower are becoming more common, there is a need to better understand factors impacting the sustainability of operating to meet these limits. This effort focuses on maximizing what can be learned from existing facilities to help utilities operate more sustainably while achieving the necessary level of performance.Phosphorus removal practices were evaluated using performance data for 11 water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs). Assessments were made of overall performance, chemical consumption, influent characteristics, tertiary treatment performance, and resource recovery. Greenhouse gas emissions were estimated for the phosphorus removal component of each WRRF. In addition, several research elements were examined at full scale to help establish the effectiveness and the practical differences in performance. These items include impacts of chemical dosing location and waste chemical solids on phosphorus removal operation; impacts of primary sludge, return activated sludge (RAS) and mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) fermentation on enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR); and impacts of EBPR on anaerobically digested biosolids dewaterability.This title belongs to WERF Research Report SeriesISBN: 9781780406923 (eBook)