Biological Assessment Saves Wastewater Treatment Money An innovative monitoring and control system for wastewater treatment plants is currently being used to evaluate four facilities in Pennsylvania and has been successfully implemented at the plant for Disney World in Orlando, Fla. The BioGuide system, developed and manufactured by BioChem Technology of King of Prussia, uses computer-operated Biological Activity Meters, or BAMs, to capture and isolate mixed samples from the wastewater and measure biological activity continuously. The information is then applied to the process to optimize treatment and cost savings. In Florida, the Disney park wastewater treatment plant, operated by Reedy Creek Energy Services, was originally designed to treat an estimated flow of 5 million gallons a day in each of its four process trains. The plant began operations in 1993 with an average flow of 8.35 million gallons a day. Following optimization using the BioGuide system, the plant is successfully operating only one train and treating peak flows up to 12.3 million gallons a day. The BioGuide system is being used at the four plants in Pennsylvania to determine their true capacities by assessing the biological activity in their processes. Evaluation Targets Nutrients from Wastewater Discharges BioChem Technology Inc. of King of Prussia recently reported how four publicly-owned wastewater treatment facilities in Pennsylvania could cut wastewater treatment 20 percent. BioChem's Process Evaluation Report was prepared for the Susquehanna River Basin Commission under a $99,000 grant from DEP. "By identifying new technologies, we hope to reduce the level of nutrients discharged into Pennsylvania waterways and eventually the Chesapeake Bay," DEP Secretary James M. Seif said. The evaluation program focused on four wastewater treatment plants that discharge effluent into tributaries of the Susquehanna River - the City of Lebanon, the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority in Wilkes-Barre, the University Area Joint Authority in State College and Swatara Township in Hummelstown. The purpose of the program was to assess the performance of the wastewater treatment process, with specific emphasis on removing nitrogen, conserving energy, and possibly upgrading the current treatment process into an advanced biological nutrient removal process with denitrification capabilities. The study concluded that each of the four facilities had an excess treatment capacity of at least 20 percent under its current wastewater discharge permit; could reduce its energy consumption and save thousands of dollars a year on operating costs and could reduce the levels of nitrogen discharge without decreasing treatment efficiencies. Written by Pennsylvania DEP