By Mojtaba Zaifnejad, PhD When applied fertilizers benefit soil health and plant growth, and are readily available to them, it is said that they are bioavailable. The extent of bioavailability of nutrients and fertilizers applied to soil and plants determines their effectiveness in improving soil health and crop yield. In addition to the 4Rs approach,
In this 4-minute video, BHN President/CEO Lyndon Smith speaks with us about BHN’s Company Values—Integrity, Win-Win-Win, Proactive Innovation, Relentless Pursuit of Excellence—and their impact on how we conduct business, treat our customers, and benefit the world.
By Heather Jennings, PE Industrial pulp and paper wastewater is considered one of the more challenging waters to treat using biological methods, which depend on microbial activity to effectively remediate the wastewater. Wastewater treatment systems are often influenced/impacted by increased hydraulic and/or COD (chemical oxygen demand) loading as mills add new chemicals or otherwise modify
By Jared Alder, MS In England, it is estimated that around 700 million gallons of water—the equivalent of 1,200 Olympics-size swimming pools—is lost every day to leaks in the country’s vast water system. Often the water just rises out to the pavement and runs down the road. Utilities spend countless hours and a great deal of money and other resources trying to locate the sources of leaks, often tearing up roads multiple times in
By Heather Jennings, PE When I worked with engineering firms, there were a lot of water master plans being developed. Many of them were updates, as the plans had been around for 5–10 years and needed revision. Some master plans evaluated water and wastewater systems from scratch. All of these were interesting to me due
By Heather Jennings, PE When I first came into the water field in the 2000s, the general rule of Chemical Oxygen Demand to Biochemical Oxygen Demand (or COD to BOD5) was 2:1. That was pretty much all you needed to know in order to understand whether something could be treated chemically, physically, or biologically. Now, the wastewater industry has moved toward COD instead of BOD5. The reason that COD is
By Heather Jennings, PE Of all the wastewater lagoon systems I have been to, I’ve never met the same lagoon twice! Many consider lagoons old tech, but they can be very reliable and more stable treatment systems than many of the more sophisticated systems out there. Lagoons, like any wastewater system, should not be left
By Jared Alder, MS The treatment of wastewater is a delicate balance of chemical, biological, and mechanical processes. Treatment operators need to find a happy medium to provide high-quality treatment, while staying within budgets and all the while ensuring they meet environmental compliance. Operators are expected to deal with a constantly varying treatment system, such
By Heather Jennings, PE The first thing I usually hear from operators is that they don’t have any problems! Everything runs perfectly, all the time, until it doesn’t. Then the heartburn, extra hours, and long days begin. The only other thing as sure as death and taxes for a wastewater system is that it will
By Jared Alder, MS There has been a big focus in domestic wastewater on the removal of phosphorus and the potential for excess phosphorus to cause eutrophication in receiving water. Treatment facilities of all different shapes and sizes with inadequate phosphorus treatment technologies have the potential for excess phosphorus release. The removal of phosphorus from
STAY IN TOUCH
