Technical Blog

Winter wastewater woes? Colder months bring unique challenges to wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). Bioaugmentation can help. Low temperatures can slow down microbial activity and lead to a variety of problems.

Wastewater treatment facilities often encounter process upsets, which hinder the biological treatment processes and disrupt the microbial populations essential for the degradation of organic matter. For these reasons, recovering quickly from these events is important for maintaining compliance with environmental regulations and operational efficiency.

Due to rapid population growth in its service area, Verrado Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) in Verrado, Arizona faced a challenge. Its existing treatment capacity of 1.54 millions of gallons per day (MGD) had become insufficient to meet the rising demand and comply with both Total Suspended Solids (TSS) and Total Nitrogen (TN) permits.

In our last blog post, we took a deep dive into our patented miGRATE™, a migrating biofilm carrier (MBC) technology that is a sought-after process intensification (PI) approach for enhancing existing wastewater treatment processes in water reuse applications. At WWW™ Arxtera, we have further integrated another successful PI method — WWW™ inDENSE® Hydrocyclone Sludge Densification — as a modular add-on to WWW™ miGRATE that increases control of the ratio of biofilm biomass and densified sludge.

Bioaugmentation and sidestream fermentation are two important techniques for wastewater treatment. Bioaugmentation is the process of introducing beneficial microorganisms into a wastewater system in order to enhance the removal of pollutants. Sidestream fermentation involves the use of a separate bioreactor to process wastewater, which can significantly reduce the cost of wastewater treatment.

What is Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP)? ATP is a key indicator for biological health, and its measurement is essential in water treatment. ATP is a molecule found in all living cells and is critical for energy production and metabolism. Without ATP, cells could not function properly, and life as we know it would not exist. In this blog post, we will discuss what ATP is, how it affects biological health, and why its measurement is so important in water treatment.

When it comes to cleaning up contaminated sites, biostimulation and bioaugmentation are two of the most commonly used methods. But what role do Oxygen Uptake Rates (OUR) play in the decision to use one or the other? When exploring the correct process for your site, it’s important to understand OUR, how they can impact your decision, and how they differ in biostimulation and bioaugmentation.

Ballasted bioaugmentation is a process-intensification technique that has been gaining traction in the industrial and manufacturing sectors. The technique involves using a combination of biotechnologies, such as bacteria and enzymes, to increase the efficiency and speed of industrial processes.

Aerobic Granule Sludge (AGS) is a technology that is used for wastewater treatment, and it’s widely considered one of the most promising water treatment solutions available. AGS uses air and bacteria to break down organic matter in waste. This process results in the formation of aerobic granules, which are small, dense, and complete masses of microorganisms.

Process intensification (PI) continues to gain ground in water reuse applications for its ability to enhance existing wastewater treatment processes — improving efficiency, reducing costs and minimizing environmental impact all within the same or smaller footprint.

WEFTEC, the Water Environment Federation's Technical Exhibition and Conference, is the largest annual water quality exhibition in North America. As part of our participation in the event, our wastewater experts will be giving daily technical presentations at our booth.

The WWW™ inDENSE™ is a hydrocyclone wasting technology that is used to selectively wastes WAS (Waste Activated Sludge), promoting densification of the MLSS, increase clarifier capacity and improved plant performance.

Our WWW™ DAF technlogy offers high removal efficiency for a variety of industrial applications while reducing power and chemical requirements. Watch our video to see some real-world examples of our WWW™ DAF technology in action.

The heart of any dissolved air flotation (DAF) system is the pump that dissolves air into the wastewater. This is because DAFs work by adding whitewater to the wastewater to create microbubbles, which attach to the suspended solids and other contaminants. These bubbles lower the particles’ density, causing the contaminants to rise to the surface and be easily skimmed off.

Wastewater treatment plants prone to organic load overloads can benefit from an easy pre-treatment upgrade using the moving bed biofilm reactor technology (MBBR) in an existing system. The WWW™ MBBR requires a minimal footprint, is easy to operate and seamlessly integrates into existing systems — allowing them to operate as normal.

Dissolved air flotation (DAF) systems are a critical part of many wastewater treatment plants. They work by dissolving air into pressurized water to remove suspended solids, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and other contaminants from wastewater streams. DAFs are especially effective in treating wastewater with fats, oils and greases (FOG), fibers and other low-density materials, making them the preferred treatment option in industries like pulp and paper, food and beverage and industrial laundry, among others. For municipal wastewater plants, DAF upgrades can be enhanced by the World Water Works Dissolved Air Generator (DAG).

WWW inDENSE™ technology is optimized to promote denser sludge selection through an innovative hydrocyclone wasting process. Ideal for wastewater operations struggling with settling rates, WWW™ inDENSE™ minimizes sludge loss and retains beneficial bacteria to minimize process upsets.

Check out Arxtera’s new online shop, which will bring sustainable bioaugmentation and biostimulant products into your hands quickly and cost-effectively. Arxtera is a leader in the bioaugmentation, biostimulation and biological process intensification markets, and its products naturally complement our intensification technologies to solve tough wastewater challenges.

Whether for cleaning, sanitizing or producing brines, meat operations produce wastewater from many sources that typically contain high levels of contaminants, suspended solids, organic compounds, ammonia compounds and fats, oils and grease (FOG). These compounds and contaminants can cause significant damage to the environment and public health if not properly treated.

Dairy processing plants use large amounts of water — whether to dilute milk for pasteurization or to clean and sanitize equipment — leading to no small amount of wastewater. This wastewater typically contains high levels of suspended solids, organic and ammonia compounds, and fats, oils and grease (FOG) — all of which can put the surrounding environment and public health at risk if released untreated.

In today’s economic and social climates, federal and state agencies are increasing their efforts to protect the environment and its inhabitants. In particular, they’re tightening their regulations, pushing municipalities, commercial and industrial entities to engage in more sustainable practices. Proper wastewater treatment is an integral part of these efforts, and many wastewater treatment plants are upgrading their systems to meet or exceed these new regulatory requirements.

Hampton Roads Sanitation District’s (HRSD) James River Treatment Plant of Newport News, Virginia and York River Treatment Plant of Seaford, Virginia each upgraded their wastewater treatment processes to better meet effluent requirements and reduce energy and external carbon consumption.

We’re excited to announce that not only have we launched our new website, we’re also starting a technical blog. This blog is where you’ll find technical information on water and wastewater industries management and technologies to keep you informed and up-to-date on the latest news and trends.