BioMag Pilot Convinces Stonington to Install Technology
The town of Stonington, Connecticut’s Water Pollution Control Authority plans a “significant upgrade” of its Mystic Water Pollution Control Facility that will use the BioMag™ treatment process.
Cambridge Water Technology has completed a full-scale, four-month-long demonstration at the Mystic site that confirmed the efficacy of the technology and its cost effectiveness.
To improve the water quality of Long Island Sound, the facility must meet Connecticut's General Permit for Nitrogen Discharges, which sets the plant's average effluent nitrogen concentration goal to less than 5 mg/L. In the 2009 trial, the BioMag™ process demonstrated that the plant could meet its future effluent limits without adding new tankage or treatment steps.
“Prior to the installation of BioMag, the Mystic facility’s total nitrogen discharge was over 30 pounds per day (greater than 7.5mg/L). Two months after BioMag installation, that number had shrunk to 12 pounds per day (less than 4 mg/L). That level of nitrogen reduction was more than we could have hoped for,” said James Sisk, chair of Stonington’s Water Pollution Control Authority. “Last year’s trial proved how the BioMag process would provide Mystic with a stable, high performance and economical wastewater treatment system well into the foreseeable future.”
Stonington’s Water Pollution Control Authority has been actively evaluating plant upgrade options for submittal to the DEP as part of its Facilities Plan to meet the long-term needs of the town and improve wastewater effluent. Camp Dresser and McKee Inc. (CDM) has been the town’s engineer in the facilities planning effort.
“The town of Stonington has known for some time that its aging wastewater treatment facilities needed to be brought into compliance with state mandates. We’ve evaluated available processes and technology options for their ability to meet WPCA goals,” said Bill McConnell, project engineer, CDM. “In BioMag, we have identified the best, most cost-effective technology to provide the necessary treatment within the physical constraints of an aging Mystic facility.”
Cambridge Water Technology’s patented BioMag ballasted activated sludge process is a technology that achieves low effluent suspended solids, biochemical oxygen demand, nitrogen, and phosphorus concentrations in a compact footprint. It can substantially reduce biological treatment tank volume requirements and dramatically decrease the footprint needed for BOD and nitrogen removal. The key to its effectiveness is BioMag's ability to improve the rate and reliability of the clarification process of biological treatment systems.
Cambridge Water Technology, Inc. develops, designs and provides practical and innovative solutions to the economic and operating challenges of water and wastewater treatment for industries and municipalities.