Retrofit for treatment of EDCs in the Easton wastewater treatment plant

Presented by:

Eric Backlund, Dan Kucz, Dan Weaver

a.k.a. WeriK, Inc.

for CE372

Objectives• Gain an understanding of EDCs in our

environment

• Analyze possible methods of treatment for EDCs

• Choose an applicable retrofit for Easton wastewater treatment plant based on the multidisciplinary approach with Lehigh Carbon Community College (LCCC) and DeSales University

• Provide costs of implementation for the retrofit

Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs)

• Over 87,000 kinds found in the environment (Scruggs, 2004)

• Proven harmful to wildlife – proven harmful to humans in high concentrations

• Should be treated in wastewater from a societal standpoint, according to LCCC students

• Should be limited to 0.1 parts per trillion (ppt) from a biological standpoint, according to DeSales University students

Methods for Treatment• Ion exchange/Chemical Precipitation

• Chlorination

• Ultraviolet

• Ozonation

• Osmosis/Membrane (filter)

• Activated Carbon adsorption– Why?

• Effective at removing wide range of EDCs

• Applicable to full-scale implementation

Environmental Aspect

• Received a wastewater sample from Easton Wastewater Treatment Plant

• Spiked the water with Estradiol, E2 to heighten the estrogen concentration

• Tested different amounts of carbon– Filtrasorb 600– Carbsorb 40

• Data analysis was done to get values for calculating the cost of the carbon

Environmental Aspect Cont’d…

• Cost calculations were run for the four carbons provided to us

• GAC Costs– Carbon 1 -- $8.46 per day– Carbon 2 -- $9.20 per day– Filtrasorb 600 -- $139,841.14 per day– Carbsorb 40 -- $45,486.95 per day

• PAC Costs– Carbon 1 -- $992.61 per day– Carbon 2 -- $60.22 per day– Filtrasorb 600 -- $202,427,912.29 per day– Carbsorb 40 -- $221,294,385.80 per day

Site DescriptionEaston Wastewater

Treatment Plant• Located on Route 611

between I-78 and the Delaware River

• Serves ~56,000 people (Water Partnership Council, 2001)

• ~4-5MGD operational flow rate

Design Criteria

• 10MGD max flow rate• 10 year lifespan• Activated Carbon adsorption treatment process

– Granular activated carbon (GAC)• Columns

• Regeneration of carbon

– Powder activated carbon (PAC)• Mix into water

• Increased sludge removal in secondary clarifiers

• 2 part GAC/PAC system

Recommendations for design

• Design GAC treatment for 6.5MGD based on population increases over the past 50 years in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton area (CensusScope, 2000)

• For remaining 3.5MGD, implement a PAC mixer box…PAC can be used in emergency situations and during regeneration periods

• 5 GAC columns at 15.5’ width each, in parallel flow

• PAC mixer box installed at current flow division box

Locations for implementationPAC

• Near flow division box

GAC• Near chlorination tanks

PAC

GAC

Costs of retrofit to users

Construction Carbon Regen TotalTot Cost $1,797,698.15Cost / yr $215,723.78 $10,824.83$/per/yr $3.85 $0.19 $4.05

TOTAL COST OF CONSTRUCTION FOR PAC $54,045.96TOTAL COST OF CONSTRUCTION/yr $6,788.17Total Cost per person/yr $0.12

PAC GAC

TOTAL COST TO USERS: $4.17 per person/yr

Any Questions???