WATER PAGES
VWT UK’s MBBR Technology provides the solution to stricter ammonia discharge levels
In partnershipwith amajorwater company, VeoliaWater Technologies UK (VWT UK) has supplied and installed its AnoxKaldnes™Moving Bed BiofilmReactor (MBBR) solution aswell as its Hydrotech Disc Filter at one of itswastewater treatment plants. This tertiarywater treatment, installed downstreamof the existing plant,was designed and specified to ensure ammonia, solids and biological oxygen demand (BOD) discharge requirementsweremet.
To improve the quality of water courses and protect aquatic life, stricter discharge limits were introduced by the regulator Ofwat and the Government’sWater Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP). Specifically, the permitted ammonia level in water discharged fromwater treatment plants was reduced. As a result,many water treatment facilities had to be upgraded to meet these new standards.
One such site is located in a semi-rural area and discharges its water into a small nearby river. The current plant was not capable of meeting the tightened limits of 1.3mg/l of ammonia, 60mg/l of solids and 40mg/l of biological oxygen demand, so additional treatment steps were required. However, the space available on the site was limited, which had to be considered when selecting a solution.
Following a competitive tender process, VWT UK was selected based on its experience undertaking similar projects, its ability to provide a complete, proven solution – eliminating the need formultiple suppliers – and the total footprint of the plant.
VWT UK recommended its AnoxKaldnes™ Moving Bed BiofilmReactor (MBBR) technology for ammonia and BOD removal, combined with its Hydrotech Disc Filter to capture the suspended solids. VWT UK worked closely with the water company and
44 | June 2023 |
www.draintraderltd.com
the contractor responsible for the project to design a plant configuration that would make efficient use of space and allow safe access formaintenance.
MBBR is a longstanding and proven technology first developed in the 1980s and today is in use on thousands of sites globally. An aerobic wastewater treatmentmethod, MBBR uses active biofilmcarriersmade from plastic with large surface areas on which bacteria can grow with optimal culture conditions. The carriers are kept in constant motion within the tanks using aeration, allowing the bacteria to break down the ammonia effectively. The large surface area of the carriers in the AnoxKaldnes™MBBR systems enable the reliable treatment of a large quantity of wastewater, all while maintaining a very small footprint.
VWT UK designed the systemto operate in its patented alternating flow configuration to allow the tight ammonia consent to be met. In this configuration, twoMBBR tanks are operated in series with gravity transfer between the tanks, so that the second tank receives lower concentrations of ammonium
(NH4-N).
Following theMBBR stage, VWT UK installed its Hydrotech Disc Filter to provide wastewater filtration. First introduced 30 years ago, and since developed to improve its efficiency, the Hydrotech Disc Filter uses polyester woven cloth filtersmounted on multiple discs to provide a large filter area in a small footprint.
Since its installation, the systemhas reliably delivered the required levels of treatment to help ensure the discharged water complies with the revised standards, and even exceed the target performance.
Matt Langdon, Business Development Manager at VWT UK said: “This project demonstrates some of the key advantages of MBBR and our AnoxKaldnes™ solution in particular.MBBR is very flexible in its design and VWT UK can employmany different configurations,media types and additional technologies tomeet a client’s specific requirements. This is only possible because of our extensive experience designing and operatingMBBR systems in the UK as well as globally.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80
