CASE STUDIES
drain TRADER
Where there is unity, there is always victory
F
romusing up asmuch as three gallons ofwater per flush, toilets since 1990 in new-build projects have been required to use no
more than 1.6 gallons per flush - awater-savingmeasure that everyonewould support the principle of. Some newer, low-flowor high efficiency toilets use just 1.3 gallons of water per flush –whilst some newer urinals use just half a gallon per flush or nowater at all. Using lesswater and savingmoneymakes perfect sense, butwhat about at the end of the line? Already, buildings in numerous towns and cities nowhave unpleasant odor problems caused by not enough water being released into the sewer system,with sludge backing up inside the pipes. InWestUnity,Ohio, some 50mileswest ofToledo, the village’s wastewater treatment plant found itself in violation froma heavy ammonia load, requiring an upgrade in equipment to provide a long- lasting solution. In addition to the village’swastewater, the treatment plant (designed in 1970) began to supplywater and receive wastewater fromthe nearbyOhioTurnpike toll road service plaza. Located inWilliamsCounty in close proximity toMichigan and Indiana, this area is known as theTop ofOhio,where threemajor highways (20- A, 127&191) all converge.
ABOVE: New Magna Rotor aerators from Lakeside atWest Unity, Ohio, have reduced energy consumption
LEFT: Josh Fritsch,West Unity (Ohio) village administrator (left), with Randy Mahlman,water andwastewater treatment plant superintendent
Since 2010, as an increasing number of peoplewith campervans and RVs use the plaza’swaste holding tank’s dump stations, extensive restrooms and food facilities, the challenge of treating the wastewater has becomemuch greater. Part of the problemhas been the effect of the low-flowtoilets and no-flowurinals triggering ammonia levels to reach an all- time high. ‘Wewere struggling to get enough dissolved oxygen’ “It’s fair to say thatwe only had rudimentary bar screens and grit
collection”, said Josh Fritsch,VillageAdministrator forWestUnity,“but wewere struggling to get enough dissolved oxygen (DO) in.We tried all sorts of things, but the oxidation ditch rotors, installed in 1997, weren’t designed for such a load, so couldn’t cope. Itwas particularly bad in the heat of the summer”. He added:“Wewere also having to copewith endless rags and therefore having to carry out lots ofmaintenance – sowe’d reached a pointwherewe needed an upgrade and get the plant back tomeeting its consent limits”. In 1970,WestUnity’swastewater treatment plant benefitted fromthe introduction of Lakeside EquipmentCorporation’sCage RotorAerators, whichwere then upgraded in 1997. Two decades on, to handle increasingly stringent consent limits, an increasing population and the extra responsibility of the service plaza,
22 drain TRADER | July 2020 |
www.draintraderltd.com
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 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
