To build an industrial sewage treatment plant, you first must address what industrial sewage is. It’s wastewater produced in an industrial setting.

Water treatment plants handle different types of wastewater. You have domestic sewage that contains residential toilet water and gray water (water from showers, baths, washing machines, etc.) from houses and apartments. There’s storm sewage that is the rainwater and snowmelt that goes into drains found on the street. Finally, you have industrial sewage, which is the used water from manufacturing plants and factories.

Industrial sewage often contains higher levels of chemicals and pollutants than domestic sewage or storm runoff. It can be the wastewater created while manufacturing batteries, refining petroleum, and making paper in paper mills. This type of wastewater must be handled appropriately to ensure that it’s clean enough to send back to bodies of water or be reused in the businesses that use the water.

Industrial wastewater often contains heavy metals, food waste, inorganic materials like rubber and metal shavings, microplastics, radionuclides, and many toxins. For this reason, you must treat it appropriately. None of those should be returning to drinking water storage tanks, rivers, lakes, etc. The treatment plant must be designed to treat industrial sewage.

Many sewage treatment plants in residential settings are ill-equipped to handle industrial wastewater. It makes it harder to properly treat the water and damages equipment, leading to expensive repairs and downtime. An industrial business owner has to stop and think of the impact on the local wastewater district. As a result, companies consider building their own onsite treatment plants to pretreat water before it goes to the sewers.

The Steps Involved in Industrial Sewage Treatment

As water leaves your machines and buildings, where it goes depends on your setup. You may need to build an onsite industrial sewage treatment plant. If your city wants you to do the first stages of treatment before releasing your wastewater to the sewers, it’s important to understand what equipment is needed.

You might prefer to put in a small wastewater treatment plant on your grounds and reuse the water. That lowers your water bill and helps the environment. Denmark’s Carlsberg Brewery came up with a plan to use at least 90% of the wastewater the brewery uses and to create biogas to produce energy the plant needs. The goal is to reach zero water waste within the decade. It’s an ambitious, respectful goal that starts with an industrial wastewater system that covers these steps.

#1 – Screening

As wastewater enters a wastewater treatment plant, the solids must be removed. If they’re left in, they can clog lines and damage equipment in downstream processes. Don’t let your plant’s efficiency tank because of damage or clogs.

With the use of open screw pumps, you don’t need pre-screening. Move the wastewater into the open screw pumps for screening and grit removal. Once there, additional screw pumps keep the sewage flowing to primary clarification tanks.

Lakeside Equipment’s Raptor equipment screens and washes solids. From there, they are compacted and dewatered. As they’re made from stainless steel, they’re ideal for use in industrial sewage processes. Choose from rotary strainer screens, rake bar screens, rotating drums, micro strainers, and fine screens. This allows you to choose the best screen for the job.

#2 – Primary Clarification and Grit Removal

Once the wastewater is screened, it goes through the primary clarification process. Some plants also need to install grit removal systems. Clarification moves the wastewater and helps remove any additional solids that have settled in the wastewater.

You might choose a peripheral feed with a surface skimmer that pushes floating solids into a trough where the solids are removed. A Spiraflo clarifier holds solids in a sludge blanket that travels towards a center hopper for removal. Lakeside also has the Spiravac that pushes the solids to the sides where they get trapped between a skirt and wall and end up falling into a settling area.

Not all industrial wastewater treatment plants need grit removal systems, but some do. These systems remove fine grit like coffee grounds, bone fragments, eggshells, etc. You’d want to put in grit collection systems if you run a meat processing plant, a plastic extrusion company where microplastics make their way into the wastewater. Another example is a chicken farm where you’ll have seeds and eggshells getting into the wastewater.

#3 – Aeration

Aeration stirs up the wastewater to add oxygen to the mix. The oxygen feeds the microorganisms that help digest some of the contaminants remaining in wastewater. You don’t want any small particles of waste material to settle at this point. By continually stirring up the water, nothing can settle.

Magna Rotor Aerators have fiberglass rotor covers to eliminate spray. That will keep odors down and protect workers from wastewater droplets. Plus, the covers can trap heat from escaping in the cooler months. The aeration blades are stainless steel, which helps prevent corrosion.

#4 – Secondary Clarification

The water is getting pretty clean at this point, so wastewater goes into secondary clarification. The process is the same as you’d find in the primary clarification process. The remaining particles are negatively charged after the other processes. They’ll bond, which makes it easy for the clarifiers to remove these remaining particles.

#5 – Disinfection

Now it’s time to disinfect the treated water. Industrial wastewater carries a lot of contaminants like lead, chemical cleaning agents, cyanides, etc. Disinfection is required to remove them. UV disinfection is one option. Using UV lighting is an environmentally friendly method for disinfection without relying on chemicals like chlorine.

Chlorine and chlorine products are the first choice in industrial wastewater treatment. In addition to disinfecting the wastewater, chlorine also removes ammonia, kills any remaining organic materials, and oxidizes iron, hydrogen sulfide, manganese, and organic matter. Chlorine is cost-effective, but it has to be removed before the wastewater moves back into a lake, stream, or other body of water.

Other Wastewater Treatment Equipment That Benefits Your Plant

Are there other wastewater equipment and tools you should incorporate in your design? A SharpBNR is a process control system that allows you to fine-tune your equipment along the way. You can monitor readings and adjust aeration as needed. With this system, you maximize efficiency. If you have a SCADA system, you can monitor your wastewater treatment processes from anywhere.

The type of equipment you choose will lower your operating costs and effectively clean the water. Calhoun, Georgia, is home to several manufacturers of flooring, which leads to very corrosive wastewater. Lakeside Equipment helped the city build a sewage treatment plant designed for industrial wastewater by using open screw pumps with stainless steel tubes that withstand the corrosive materials.

Manufacturing plants, food processing companies, and other factories have two goals when it comes to industrial wastewater treatment. They want energy-saving designs that keep costs low, but they also want a water treatment system that properly cleans the water. Meet your budgetary goals and get a system that does exactly what you expect. Give us a call to discuss your industrial sewage treatment plant. Our team of specialists is happy to help design a system to your specifications that’s going to last.

Hydropower is a clean, renewable energy source, and it accounts for 52% of the renewable electricity generation in the U.S. The benefits of hydropower are plentiful. Streams, rivers, lakes, and ocean tides are already in place. In some areas, the sun doesn’t shine every day, making solar a little more challenging to rely on during some months. The water always flows, even in the winter. This makes hydropower an effective, reliable energy source.

The largest hydropower structure in the U.S. is the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington. Water can flow at rates of up to one million cubic feet per second and has a capacity of more than 6,800 MW. It’s a pumped storage and reservoir facility. Virginia’s Bath County is a pumped-storage power station with two reservoirs. Its capacity is just over 3,000 MW.

In 2012, the U.S. Department of Energy estimated that the existing hydropower plants could generate 15% of their capacity. The development of existing dams and power plants could bring impressive changes to the power grid. To improve the infrastructure, cities look at upgrading outdated equipment and building new hydropower plants on rivers and streams to tap into the full potential of waterways across the U.S.

Changes to hydropower technology help keep costs low while also protecting the fish and other aquatic animals from harm. If you’re worried about keeping costs at a hydropower plant down, you’d be surprised by the options out there that are cost-effective and beneficial to fish and other marine creatures.

Components Found in a Hydropower Plant

To generate electricity from water, You have a dam that collects water in a basin and forces the water through a gate (inlet) where it goes downhill. At that inlet is a trash rake that clears debris and trash. The trash rake is essential as it prevents debris like root balls from older trees, branches, and manufactured waste from getting into the equipment and continuing downstream.

Water flows to the hydraulic turbine, where the turbine spins, causing a shaft within a generator to rotate. This motion generates electricity sent to the powerhouse and transformer before moving to transmission towers and lines for use in homes and businesses. As the water flows past the turbine, it heads to outlet discharge and returns to the river, lake, stream, or ocean.

Electricity demand fluctuates, so do water levels. In a drought, a river may run low. For that reason, some hydropower plants also have the ability to slow down at night and reuse water. Water is pumped back to the reservoir or basin instead, where it can be used multiple times to generate electricity.

Every Hydropower Plant Needs Trash Rakes

One of the most critical pieces of hydropower equipment is a trash rake. Whether it’s a deliberate act or an accidental one, a lot of litter ends up on roadways each year. Wind and heavy rains move that trash into streams and rivers. People on boats or picnicking near a lake, ocean, or river may leave trash behind that ends up in the waterways. All of that garbage heads downstream.

That’s just one of the problems that hydropower plants encounter. Trees, branches, leaves, and pine cones can all fall into the waterways and end up in the hydropower equipment and pipes if it’s not cleared.

When there is a hydroelectric plant, the trash, branches, and such are drawn into the facility, where it could jam equipment and bust pipes. To prevent damage, you need to clear this trash and debris. Trash rakes continually work to collect these items into dumpsters or other forms of containment for proper disposal. Lakeside Equipment has several options to meet your needs.

Cable-Operated Systems Vs. Hydraulically-Operated Systems

Some trash rakes rely on hydraulic systems to screen and rake the materials from incoming water and remove them. Others are operated through cables and winches that lower the rake to the bottom of a basin before drawing it back up.

#1 – Catronic Series (Cable-Operated)

This is a heavy-duty trash rake capable of lifting 20 tons thanks to a winch and cable system that drops and raises the rake. Once the trash and debris are collected, the system can transfer them to a nearby dumpster.

• This system goes to depths of 200 feet.
• Your options include a jib crane or a hydraulic grab crane.
• It’s an energy-efficient option with lowered operating costs.

#2 – Hydronic H Series (Hydraulically-Operated)

The Hydronic H Series Trash Rake is designed to clean horizontal bars. Debris and trash move downstream where it collects, and the hydraulic rake pivots to fit into the bar rack to collect that debris for removal.

• Operating expenses are lower with this energy-efficient equipment.
• The horizontal design doesn’t harm the environment and protects aquatic creatures.
• It’s easy to maintain as all components are above the surface of the water.

#3 – Hydronic K Series (Hydraulically-Operated)

This system uses hydraulics to operate the long rake arm and clean depths of up to 100 feet. It’s capable of cleaning larger objects like trees and root systems.

• The rake comes with choices of traversing, swiveling, or stationary arms.
• Enjoy easier maintenance as its components are all above the water.
• The system’s lower operating costs and energy efficiency save money.

#4 – Hydronic Multifunctional Series (Hydraulically-Operated)

The M series is an energy-efficient solution that comes with your choice of an articulating arm or telescoping rake/articulating arm. It can be used manually, fully automatic, or a mix of the two. You can also have it with a single gripper, an orange peel grapple (claw-like grabber), or, for increased efficiency, the triple jaw gripper.

• This rake handles depths of up to 150 feet.
• All of the components are above the water for easy maintenance.
• Adjustable pressures minimize wear while optimizing cleaning abilities.

#5 – Hydronic T-Series (Hydraulically-Operated)

Its telescoping boom and rake clear both fine and coarse screens without the need for chains, guides, or sprockets. This trash rake can clean at angles of up to 90 degrees and has a greater reach than other models. It’s a good choice when you need a rake that can handle many heavy items without wearing out quickly.

• It has a more substantial lifting capacity.
• Stainless steel or galvanized construction are options.
• Components are above the water for easy maintenance.

#6 – Monorail Series (Cable-Operated)

This grab rake and cable system are clean water intakes through a trolley system that removes the trash once it’s collected. It’s best for plants where there are multiple bar racks. As multiple rakes are not required, it helps keep costs down.

• Once in a parked position, maintenance is completed away from the bar rack system.
• The equipment reduces operational expenses thanks to the energy-efficient design.
• It can be retrofitted to your existing plant structures.

#7 – RO-TEC Drum Screens (Hydraulically-Operated)

These screens are self-cleaning and require less power to operate. They use the river’s current to move the drum screen, which keeps fish from getting drawn into them. That makes them one of the best choices for hydropower plants.

• The drum cannot clog.
• The drive components are above the water for easy maintenance.
• It’s an energy-efficient option.

Which of these options sounds best for your hydropower plant’s needs? Are you stuck on two or three options? Give us a call. Our team of hydropower equipment experts can help you better understand the pros and cons to find the most cost-effective options that also help protect marine life and do exactly what you need the trash rakes to do.

In the early 1900s, poor water quality led to about 100 cases of typhoid fever (a waterborne disease) per 100,000 people. As cities and states started looking into water treatment steps by 1920, the numbers dropped to about 34 cases per 100,000 people. Today, there are no cases of typhoid fever. Wastewater treatment is critical to having clean drinking water.

Even with all of the improvements, there are things people do not understand. One is that storm runoff and sewage treatment are not the same. Here are ten common misunderstandings regarding storm runoff and sewage treatment in the U.S.

Storm Runoff Is Just Rainwater, So It Doesn’t Need to Be Cleaned

When it rains, water that collects in roadways has to go somewhere. Cities and towns have gulleys and ditches where the rainwater goes to divert it to streams and other bodies of water. The runoff travels into city drains and channels that lead to rivers, lakes, and oceans. In a town, you’ll have gulleys and ditches instead.

People often think it’s just rainwater, so it’s clean and won’t harm the bodies of water it ends up in. This is incorrect. Along the way, it picks up motor oil and other automotive fluids that leak from cars traveling on the streets. Dirt, gravel, bark mulch, trash, leaves, grass clippings, and branches end up in it. They can clog the channels and cause back-ups. If there’s no clog, the garbage that the storm runoff picks up travels to the lakes and streams, too.

Cities and Towns Are Equipped for Weird Weather

Strange weather patterns are happening more than before. While wastewater treatment plants and state wastewater districts do what they can to prepare for the unexpected, it’s impossible to predict unusual weather patterns.

For years, the infrastructure has been failing due to older sewer lines, capacity issues, and budgetary concerns. It’s a leading reason that you see cities struggling with flooding and not being designed to handle the additional volume of storm runoff and flooding in wastewater treatment plants. Updating equipment to handle increasing flow rates is essential.

People Have No Impact on Storm Runoff Pollution

There’s another problem with storm runoff. People residing in communities where storm drains exist don’t realize that some of their habits are poisoning the streams and lakes. People may pour their motor oil, cooking oil, or unnecessary cleaners into a storm drain, and those contaminants end up in the bodies of water. Washing cars in a driveway leads to various chemicals traveling to streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, and oceans.

In the winter months, cities and towns that treat roads with salt send the melted snow and salt into nearby bodies of water. Metals from rusting vehicles and vehicle parts also make their way into storm drains and ditches.

Storm Runoff Always Goes to a Wastewater Treatment Plant

Another misconception is that stormwater goes through a wastewater treatment plant along with sewer water. This is not true. Some cities have plants that treat both, but it’s not common.

Storm runoff travels into storm drains that connect to storm sewers leading to waterways in most areas and never gets treated. In rural areas, there are usually ditches along roadways that connect to culverts that allow the storm runoff to travel to a nearby stream.

Rural Storm Runoff Isn’t as Bad as Urban Runoff or Industrial Wastewater

People often think that the runoff in rural areas isn’t as harmful as storm runoff in cities or industrial areas. This is incorrect. One of the worst pollutants in storm runoff is the fertilizer and manure used on farms and lawn treatments in residential areas.

Nutrients found in manure and fertilizer, such as phosphorus and nitrogen, travel to streams and eventually reach lakes. There, they feed algae blooms that can be harmful to people and animals.

Water Treatment Plants Are Always Designed To Handle Industrial Wastewater

A wastewater treatment plant does treat water from residences and businesses. Sometimes, an industrial manufacturer or company needs to install a wastewater treatment plant to pre-treat water before it goes to the sewers.

An on-site wastewater treatment plant helps a business recover and reuse water, reducing the volume of water drawn from municipal water supplies. Plus, it helps reduce the strain on area wastewater treatment plants. As industrial settings may create wastewater with heavier volumes of toxic chemicals, pre-treatment is critical.

Sewage Treatment Takes Care of All Pollutants

Sewage treatment doesn’t take care of all pollutants. The EPA sets guidelines that wastewater treatment plants meet, but some pharmaceuticals still get through. One study found that medications like birth control pills were getting through wastewater treatment processes and making their way to lakes, rivers, and oceans, affecting the reproductive health of fish.

Grinder Pumps End Issues With Everything People Flush

When people flush items they believe are flushable, it can be problematic to a wastewater treatment plant. Though it says “flushable” on the packaging, Flushable wipes do not dissolve in water. They get caught up on equipment at a treatment facility, and they can also create clogs in pipes. The same is true of “flushable” cat litter. Throw them out!

Some facilities add grinder pumps to help break down these items and prevent clogs. Grinder pumps can help, but it’s still best if people stop putting them into sewer systems and septic tanks.

There’s Little Home and Business Owners Can Do to Stop Pollution

Homeowners and business owners can do a lot to help stop water pollution. Carefully consider the products used for cleaning items like toilets, sinks, dishes, clothing, etc. Avoid items that contain harsh chemicals, phosphorus, etc. Aim for environmentally-friendly cleaning products.

Watch what you flush down a toilet. Toilet paper that’s two- or three-ply takes longer to break down. If you prefer thicker toilet paper, remember that it may clog your pipes. If you have a septic system, ask your septic company what they recommend. Many will tell you never to flush anything other than one-ply.

Do not put oils, especially cooking oil, down the drain. Avoid putting coffee grounds and bones down the sink if you use a grinder pump or garbage disposer.

Wastewater Treatment Plants Always Handle Heavy Loads

When wastewater and storm runoff are treated together in a wastewater treatment plant, the system must be capable of handling surges. You could have staff constantly watching for rising levels of sewer water, but it’s wiser to invest in wastewater processing equipment designed to address these sudden increases.

A SharpBNR Process Control is an example. If there’s a surge, the computerized system adjusts aeration and other aspects of wastewater treatment to ensure the water is treated appropriately before it’s released.

Having equipment that can handle increased flow rates is also worth considering. If your plant is upgraded to allow for excess capacity, it’s ready to take on heavy loads. Otherwise, raw sewage is released to prevent flooding within the wastewater treatment plant, which can damage the environment and lead to fines.

Talk to Lakeside Equipment’s experts in wastewater treatment equipment to ensure your plant is equipped for increases in sewer water. When you have considered for increased caused by changing weather patterns or excessive use from area residents, you’re protected from having to release raw sewage while also helping the environment. Call us to learn more about maximizing your plant’s effective wastewater treatment processes.

Every household in the U.S. uses an average of 300 gallons per day. The majority of water usage involves flushing toilets, washing hands, and taking showers. You also have businesses using water. Almost half of the freshwater withdrawals in the U.S. are for thermoelectric power and irrigation systems. Public use accounts for about 12%.

In 2013, only eight states in the U.S. reported water shortages as being unlikely. Montana reported a statewide water shortage was likely in the next decade. Two dozen states said there were likely to be regional shortages. Fifteen states reported feeling that local shortages were likely.

As the population grows and water consumption continues, the risk of water shortages is very likely. In fact, 2021 saw the federal government declaring a water shortage on the Colorado River. Immediate changes to water policies were discussed and reductions were placed for Arizona and Nevada.

Every measure that municipalities and districts can take to conserve water is important. That’s where a closed-loop wastewater system comes in. Instead of drawing water from lakes, rivers, and other water sources, water enters a circular system where it is treated to meet water quality requirements and reused. Learn more about closed-loop wastewater systems and see if you could make it work well for your needs.

How a Closed-Loop Wastewater System Works

When you have a closed-loop system, you reuse the water that’s necessary for flushing toilets, washing hands and equipment, and manufacturing or producing components, foods, etc. Water is collected and sent to the wastewater equipment to be screened, cleaned, aerated, cleaned more, and filtered. It may be treated with chemicals to remove bacteria.

Once it meets the required specifications, it’s sent back to tanks where it can be reused. A closed-loop wastewater system can’t completely eliminate your need for water from your district. There’s always water loss to evaporation. But, this type of system can drastically reduce the amount of water needed from municipal water supplies.

What Industries Benefit From Closed-Loop Wastewater Treatment?

How can businesses use a closed-loop wastewater treatment system? Here are different areas where these systems can be incredibly helpful.

1. Breweries

Breweries use a lot of water. There’s the water needed to make the beer, rinse the grains, and clean the equipment.

Several breweries have installed closed-loop water treatment plants to reduce the amount of wastewater that’s sent to sewers. Denmark’s Carlsberg is one of them.

Wastewater from the brewing process is treated in an on-site wastewater treatment plant. The biogas produced from wastewater treatment is used to heat the brewery. The cleaned wastewater is reused for cleaning. Instead of putting water down the drain, the brewery reuses almost every drop.

2. Car Washes

Have you ever taken your car to an automatic car wash? Do you own a car wash? Studies have been completed on the amount of water used during a car wash.

With self-serve car washes, around 12 gallons are used per vehicle. A conveyor system uses about 44 gallons, while an in-bay car wash uses the most at 72.5 gallons on average. A closed-loop system is a great way for car washes to recapture the dirty water, clean it, and use it to wash more cars.

3. Chip Fab

Millions of gallons of water are used every day in a large chip fabrication plant. Some of the nation’s largest chip fabs have started setting up closed-loop systems to reuse water. Others, such as Intel, have established systems that reduce the amount of water they use by over 40% and keep making improvements.

4. Dairy Plants

In 2018, Hiland Dairy was recognized for its closed-loop initiative. The plant added an on-site wastewater treatment facility to process the whey wastewater. The lagoons the plant added can treat upwards of 250,000 gallons per day. The whey that’s separated from the wastewater is used as fertilizer for its feed crops.

5. Distilleries

To make spirits, water is needed. It’s estimated that almost 10 gallons of water are used to make one liter of whatever spirit is being distilled. Gallons of cold water running over condensers ends up being incredibly wasteful.

To stop this waste, Laws Whiskey House in Colorado established a closed-loop system where water is recycled and cooled for reuse. This saves about three gallons of water per liter bottle of whiskey.

6. Hotels/Resorts

A hotel or resort goes through a lot of water. Guest baths and showers, toilet usage, and kitchens use thousands of gallons of water each day. Plus, you have the laundry room where sheets and towels are laundered every day.

A closed-loop wastewater system can make a big difference in a hotel or resort’s water consumption. Water is filtered to remove lint and toilet paper. It then goes through aeration and cleaning. Solids are removed and composted or removed to waste facilities. Once the water is treated and meets required standards, the water is reused.

7. Laundromats

A closed-loop wastewater treatment system can reduce a laundromat’s water consumption by as much as 80%. Once a load of laundry is completed, the wastewater is screened and sent into a tank where it is filtered to remove lint and grit from dirt. After going through additional cleaning steps and filters, it can go into water tanks to be reused to wash another load of laundry for someone else.

8. Restaurants

In 2021, a company announced they’d created The Endless Sink, a stand-alone closed-loop wastewater system that cleans the water used to wash dishes again and again without needing to draw much additional water.

A closed-loop system is great for large kitchens that serve hundreds of diners. Oils and food particles are removed. The remaining soapy water is filtered and purified to remove all bacteria. From there, it can be used again at sinks or in dishwashers.

9. Rest Stops

Interstate rest stops see thousands of visitors each day. Those visitors are there for bathroom breaks and to stretch their legs. Imagine how much water is used every time a toilet flushes and hands are washed.

Vermont is home to an amazing closed-loop wastewater system that serves thousands of people every day. Instead of overworking the septic system in this rural area, a closed-loop system cleans the water for reuse. Set right off the interstate, The Living Machine is set within a large glass solarium. A series of tanks contain plants, aquatic insects, snails, and worms.

When visitors stop to use the toilets, they flush the water and it goes into the septic system where solids settle and the rest of the wastewater travels to treatment tanks where aeration occurs. After aeration, the vegetation, animals, and insects do their part to complete the cleaning process.

At this point, the cleaned water returns to the toilets and sinks in the bathrooms where it’s reused and the cycle continues. Signs tell visitors about the process and provide notice that the water is not meant to be consumed.

It’s Time to Consider a Closed-Loop Wastewater System

Your company goes through thousands of gallons of water every day. It’s time to consider how you can lower your impact on the environment. What steps can you take to reduce the amount of water you’re using to wash equipment, process foods, or other processes that require a lot of water?

Work with the engineers at Lakeside Equipment on the closed-loop wastewater system your business needs. Whether you need a large system or a smaller one, we can help you. Since 1928, we’ve specialized in water treatment for industrial and municipal settings. Call us to learn more.

Here’s a concerning statistic. There are more than 16,000 wastewater treatment plants in the U.S. and many of them are at 81% of their capacity. About one out of five are at or over their max capacity. When a facility is at max capacity, untreated wastewater ends up flowing into lakes, rivers, and streams where people and animals are exposed to it.

In 2019, districts across the nation spent more than $3 billion on upgrades or repairs to pipelines. The gap in what was needed was around $81 billion. Recent grants and funding promise to help with some of this, but there are still many districts that have an impossible choice. Do you repair your district’s system again and hope it lasts or is it time for upgrades?

How Long Has Your Wastewater Treatment Plant Been Operational?

On average, a wastewater treatment plant is designed for no more than 50 years before changes are necessary. As the populations in towns and cities increase, more wastewater goes to a plant, and that means the existing equipment may not be enough. If more wastewater is coming in than the equipment is able to process, the release of untreated wastewater is going to happen.

Are the fines you’ll face from the EPA or your state government worth it? These fines may end up costing more than upgrades would cost. Take a look at some of the recent fines issued to wastewater treatment plants in the U.S.

• Alabama – $250,000
• California – $816,000
• Connecticut – $2.4 million
• Indiana – $3 million
• Michigan – $100,000
• New Mexico – $1.2 million

One thing to remember is that many of the fines also come with the requirement that you make the required upgrades or repairs. You end up having to pay even more, and your wastewater district members may not like the rate hikes that are required to cover these urgent fixes.

When Do You Repair Instead of Upgrade?

It’s clear that something has to change. When should you repair rather than pay for upgrades? The most important reason to repair is that your budget is limited. No one wants to scrape along with older equipment, but if there’s simply not enough money for upgraded equipment, repairs will have to suffice for now. What other situations call for repairs over upgrades?

1. Your Equipment Isn’t Too Old

If your equipment is still newer, it’s not always smart to replace it yet. It still has a lot of life left, so repair whatever isn’t working effectively. If a pump blows, it’s better to replace the pump than an entire system.

2. You Don’t Have Time for Replacements

It may not be the right season to be shutting down part of your wastewater treatment plant. It’s winter, and more people are at home and taking warm baths at night, so wastewater generation is higher than it is in the summer. Your town might be a popular spot for tourists, and once the summer tourism season ends, wastewater generation will drop by more than half. If you need to repair now to buy time until less wastewater is being generated, wait until then.

3. Funding Isn’t In Place Yet

You may have applied for grants to pay for new wastewater treatment equipment, but the grant money isn’t being distributed until the third quarter. You can’t hold off yet, so make just enough repairs to carry you over and then replace equipment when you have funding. 

When Should You Upgrade?

Before you even experience fines, when should you consider upgrades? Here are five reasons to upgrade.

1. Energy Costs Are Rising

Your bills keep rising, and the people in your district are not happy about it. This can be a sign that pumps and motors are working more than in the past. Upgrading to more energy-friendly pumps and motors will cost money, but the amount you save on energy bills makes it worthwhile.

You can also consider upgrades to help power your plant. Add a system that converts the methane your plant produces into fuel to heat to cut your heating bills. Look into solar panels and wind turbines to help produce the energy your plant needs to run.

2. Equipment Breaks Down Frequently

Your equipment seems to break down every month. When that happens, you have to stop the treatment process or lower the capacity, which puts you at risk of flooding and raw sewage releases. If you’re spending more time on repairs than you have in the past, it’s time to look into upgraded, maintenance-free wastewater treatment equipment.

3. The Population Is Rising Faster Than Expected

Your town should be considering the added wastewater generation when new construction is considered, but you can’t always control how many people move into a new home. You also can’t control how many showers or baths a person takes each day. You will have the people who take a bath and two showers every day without realizing how much extra wastewater they’re generating. If the wastewater generation is more than planned, you could find yourself quickly reaching capacity.

By building a system that’s larger than needed, you help allow for growth. If more people moved into a new development than you expected, you still have plenty of capacity for the increase. You do need to closely monitor this throughout the year and remain in contact with the city planners.

4. Treatment Standards Have Changed

Wastewater treatment standards change from time to time. As the guidelines regarding the max levels of a certain component change, you need to meet or exceed the changing guidelines. This may mean having upgraded equipment that’s able to filter the wastewater to the appropriate levels.

5. Your Wastewater Treatment Plant is At Capacity

When your wastewater treatment plant is at or very close to capacity, it’s time to upgrade your equipment. You can’t risk the fines you’ll get by releasing raw sewage. You have systems in place to monitor how much wastewater is treated and flows into your plant, keep track of these numbers, and address issues sooner rather than later.

6. You’ve Been Warned the Repairs Won’t Last Long

You might save a lot of money with repairs, but you’ve been told that the repair is only going to carry your plant for a month or two. If you have to pay for the same repair weeks from now, why keep spending money? Pay for the upgrade once and avoid all of the extra repair costs.

Discuss Your Options

Sometimes, the costs of repairs vs. upgrades are not as different as you might imagine. Talk to an expert in wastewater treatment plants to find out how much it would cost to repair equipment vs. replace it. You may find that it ends up being more affordable to replace equipment. Plus, there may be incentives that you can apply for to help cover some of the cost of the infrastructure upgrades you need. If you’re saving your district’s members money in the long run, they’ll appreciate it.

Lakeside Equipment offers cost-effective upgrades if that suits your district better. Or, work with our team on repairs that provide the efficiency and effectiveness you need. Water treatment is our specialty and it’s one we’ve been involved in since 1928. Our mission remains to have Cleaner Water for a Brighter Future. Talk to us to learn more about the ways you can join us on that mission.