It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Treatment December 13, 2017
This year has brought substantial progress on the new Wastewater Treatment Plant No. 2, located at the northeast corner of S. Empire Blvd and Fulton Ave. The structural construction (concrete) phase is almost complete and the installation of the mechanical equipment has commenced.
Some of the mechanical equipment currently being installed includes two large screens at the Headworks, the plant’s tallest structure. These screens effectively pull rags, plastics, toys, toothbrushes, and other items that don’t break down in the treatment process out of the waste stream. As a second process, the grit removal equipment will be installed on the level below. The screened wastewater flows down a series of spiral funnels to remove rocks and sand. In both steps, the items and grit are removed and washed before they go to a dumpster for disposal.
Mechanical equipment that consists of aeration piping and diffusers are also being installed in the Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) tanks, located immediately north of the headworks. The piping will convey air to the diffusers. The diffusers will inject micro-bubbles of air into the waste, which provides oxygen to the good microbes that eat the sewage.
More mechanical equipment continues to arrive. The site is also busy with the operations, electrical buildings going up, and installation of underground piping and electric conduits. The new plant is scheduled to be fully operational by the end of September 2018.
Piping & diffusers installed in the SBR.
PHOTO2: Installation of the grit removal equipment at the headworks.