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Greater Bayfield Wastewater Treatment Plant
Award of Merit: Environmental
The Greater Bayfield Wastewater Treatment Plant Commission
in Bayfield, Wis., was formed to explore options for long-term
regional wastewater treatment that would greatly improve the
quality of discharge to Lake Superior.
The goal was to design and build a demonstration project
intended to showcase cost-effective technologies that communities
can use to provide treatment above regulatory standards.
Prior to the project Bayfield and the Pikes Bay Sanitary District
operated separate wastewater treatment plants. Both operated
well with excellent effluent discharge.
However, flows and loadings of both plants were increasing
because of increasing tourism. And, there were reports of
failures of private wastewater systems.
Bayfield and PBSD teamed up to explore alternatives for a
regional plant.
Has Advanced Treatment
Several treatment methods were evaluated, and the commission
selected extended air activated sludge treatment with biological
nutrient removal followed by cloth disk filtration and ultraviolet
disinfection on a site between the existing wastewater plants
with pumping stations and force mains to convey flow from
Bayfield and PBSD.
Sludge management was identified as a critical issue during
facilities planning and was a primary reason that the existing
wastewater plant sites would not be adequate for the long-term.
The new Bayfield wastewater plant uses reed bed technology
for environmentally friendly dewatering of the sludge, a process
that the less energy- and fuel-intensive than other sludge
management options.
Energy-saving features included automatic dissolved oxygen
controls and variable frequency drives on aerators, denitrification
of nitrate for lower aeration energy requirement, enhanced
efficiency UV disinfection, premium efficiency motors, energy-efficient
lighting and daylighting.
Contractors elected to work through the winter in part because
of a funding delay. The conditions required heating the aggregate,
cement, water, forms, reinforcing steel.
In addition, the underground piping work was done during winter
and involved excavating the frozen ground and keeping the
backfill from freezing.
Jury Comments: "It was innovative to use reed-bed technology.
It's cost-efficient and environmentally efficient. It was
also a demonstration project and could serve as an example
to others. You have to give them credit for looking at something
new."
Has Advanced Treatment
Several treatment methods were evaluated, and the commission
selected extended air activated sludge treatment with biological
nutrient removal followed by cloth disk filtration and ultraviolet
disinfection on a site between the existing wastewater plants
with pumping stations and force mains to convey flow from Bayfield
and PBSD.
Sludge management was identified as a critical issue during
facilities planning and was a primary reason that the existing
wastewater plant sites would not be adequate for the long-term.
The new Bayfield wastewater plant uses reed bed technology for
environmentally friendly dewatering of the sludge, a process
that the less energy- and fuel-intensive than other sludge management
options.
Energy-saving features included automatic dissolved oxygen controls
and variable frequency drives on aerators, denitrification of
nitrate for lower aeration energy requirement, enhanced efficiency
UV disinfection, premium efficiency motors, energy-efficient
lighting and daylighting.
Contractors elected to work through the winter in part because
of a funding delay. The conditions required heating the aggregate,
cement, water, forms, reinforcing steel.
In addition, the underground piping work was done during winter
and involved excavating the frozen ground and keeping the backfill
from freezing.
Jury Comments: "It was innovative to use reed-bed technology.
It's cost-efficient and environmentally efficient. It was also
a demonstration project and could serve as an example to others.
You have to give them credit for looking at something new."
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