NPDES Permit - How to reduce O&M costs of your package plant

If you are considering replacing an activated sludge plant in South Carolina, North Carolina or Virginia now is a great time to ask yourself, “Is there a better way to do this?”

Activated sludge plants treating small flows <100,000 gpd are tricky to operate. They require lots of maintenance, use lots of energy, and are prone to treatment process upsets due to variable flows and flow strengths.

NPDES permits almost always require a minimum of 5 visits per week (daily) by the operator in charge. This number of visits is required because you actually have to go to an activated sludge plant that often to make sure it is running properly.

There is another option out there that approaches small flow wastewater treatment differently using a packed bed media filter instead of activated sludge process.

This packed bed media filter process is a much more robust treatment process that is less prone to upset utilizing a non-submerged media filter on which the nutrient digesting bacteria live and thrive. In low-flow and low-food times, the bacteria consume what nutrients are left in the recirculating wastewater before entering endogenous respiration aka cannibalizing themselves and each other to survive until flow and food returns. (You can read more about the Performance of Packed Bed Media Filters here.)

The Advantex technology, especially the AX MAX is a technological break through bringing the benefits of packed bed media filters like sand filters to a larger scale economically. Advantex treatment systems have been used to replace existing activated sludge package plants resulting in:

• 80% reduction in site visits

• 90% reduction in sludge pumping

• No more energy hogging blowers

• More consistent treatment and effluent quality

• Expanded flow capacity

• Fully Telemetry enabled

• Safer work environment

Do you have an activated sludge package plant in North Carolina, South Carolina, or Virginia?

If you do, reach out to AQWA to find out how an Advantex system can replace your existing package plant resulting in huge recurring annual savings on operations and maintenance.

call 252-243-7693 and ask for Michael or Steve

or

email info@aqwa.net

AQWA Expands Territory to Virginia

AQWA Inc., (Wilson, NC), the AdvanTex® dealer in the Carolinas, is pleased to announce the addition of Virginia into its market territory.

Orenco Systems (Sutherlin, OR), the manufacturer of AdvanTex Wastewater Treatment Systems, has authorized AQWA Inc. to bring its unmatched sales and service team to engineers, developers, commercial facility owners, utilities, and municipalities throughout the Commonwealth.

The AdvanTex line has grown in recent years to include a larger, modular AX-Max™ system, which allows for phased installation for flows from 5,000 GPD up to 100,000 GPD or more. Clean effluent from these units is safely discharged to the environment through drip or spray irrigation, traditional drainfields, or direct NPDES discharge. “The AdvanTex Treatment System is the closest thing to a bullet-proof wastewater treatment system out there. Now, it’s our job to show everyone what it can do,” says Steve Barry, AQWA’s President.

He continues: “With the focus on nutrient limitations in the Chesapeake Bay and Smith Mountain Lake regions, growth pressures in Northern Virginia, as well as environmentally sensitive trout streams in the Blue Ridge, we expect the AX-Max to be very well received in Virginia.”

Since Orenco introduced this product for larger flows, AQWA has made significant inroads in the Carolinas, including groundbreaking systems installed in several new decentralized subdivisions on Lake Norman NC, in a nuclear power plant, and in state parks, RV parks, and several schools.

“Our new mission is to rid the world of traditional aeration ‘package plants’. They are simply the wrong technology for flows less than 100,000 gallons per day,” according to Barry. “If we don’t get rid of those tired old ‘package plants’ and replace them more stable and scalable technologies like the AX-Max, the environment will continue to suffer and owners will continue to pay too much. We’re going to keep doing everything we can to leave cleaner lakes and rivers to our kids and grandkids, and this is another step along that path.”

Since 2002, AQWA, a family-owned business, has relentlessly worked to be The Clear Leader™ in wastewater treatment equipment sales and service in the Carolinas. “We’ve been blessed in so many ways. We have a great partner in Orenco, as well as diligent employees with high integrity. Their hard work has earned the respect of regulators, engineers, installers, soil scientists, and property owners alike.” Barry says.