Anaerobic Digester Saves 42% In Sludge Hauling

by Heather Jennings, PE

The case summary described below is an example of how our Bio Energizer^® product helped reduce overall solids handling and improved supernatant clarity. It really doesn’t take much Bio Energizer^® to reduce solids within your system when the microbial community is stimulated or “kicked into gear” to do their job. Typically, in anaerobic digestion we dose between 1–2 gallons/MGD. This system had 250,000 gpd and, after an initial dose of 2 gallons, they added 7 oz/day of the product for 60 days in their primary digester. The results? The volume of each decant was double the normal volume, and they had half the solids loading with an average of 0.21% solids. Continuously using the product over two years yielded a net savings of $1,024/ month!

Project Summary

A town operating a trickling filter wastewater treatment plant with primary and secondary clarification is permitted for 0.540 million gallons per day, with an average daily flow of 0.250. Primary solids are wasted to the primary digester and the secondary biosolids are wasted back to the head works along with secondary digester supernatant.

The wastewater treatment plant historically handled and hauled 440,000 gallons of 3.0% solids to the landfill. The facility uses permanganate for odor and dissolved oxygen control during decanting only. In an effort to improve decant, they used various products such as liquid and dry bacteria with poor to fair results. The quality and quantity of the supernatant decreased after each decant, preventing them from pumping supernatant back to the head works because of organic overloading.

During a sixty (60) day trial of Probiotic Solutions^® BIO ENERGIZER^®, decant quantities doubled and sludge hauling costs decreased, prompting the facility to contact Probiotic Solutions^® to use BIO ENERGIZER^® on a permanent basis.

Testimonial

“Our anaerobic digesters were completely emptied and we do not plan to dewater sludge again for 3 years. [By that time] we will have saved $40,000. We wish we started using Bio Energizer years ago. Just think how much money we could have saved.

“We truly believe Bio Energizer is the sole reason for our savings in sludge dewatering costs. We have tried all different types of liquid and powdered bacteria but to no avail. Using Bio Energizer, we extended our sludge holding time from 12 months to 18 months.”

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