Collection System 0.02 MGD

Publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) receiving wastewater from industrial sources often experience treatment complications from high biological oxygen demand (BOD₅) and total suspended solids (TSS) loads. Establishing an industrial
pretreatment program in the collection system is an effective strategy to prevent overloading POTWs. Bioaugmentation can effectively help reduce BOD₅ and TSS in the collection lines prior to treatment at a facility.

The following case study outlines bioaugmentation with BioLynceus® ProBiotic Scrubber® II (PBII) in a collection system ahead of a 0.02 MGD POTW lagoon system. The operations management of the aerated lagoon system (ALS) was struggling with high BOD₅ and TSS levels in the influent wastewater.

The treatment capacity of the lagoon system was greatly inhibited by the loads received from a meat packing plant upline. The facility was consistently overloaded which provided challenges for staying within effluent permit compliance. To curtail the impacts of receiving high BOD₅ and TSS concentrations, the facility management decided to implement PBII in the collection system.

To establish a much-needed industrial pretreatment, PBII was dosed daily in the collection lines at the meat packing plant. Augmenting the system in this way provided the biology necessary to decrease BOD₅ and TSS levels in the wastewater before reaching the lagoon system.

Figure 1. Wastewater sample analytical values for BOD₅ before PBII treatment and one month after treatment began at a manhole downline from the dosing site. Grab samples were collected and analyzed by Energy Laboratories, INC in accordance with APHA standard method A5210B.¹

To assess the efficacy of the PBII pretreatment, a wastewater sample was collected at a manhole down-line from the meat packing plant before and during treatment. The BOD₅ concentration of each sample was determined and compared. The BOD₅ result from the sample taken a month after treatment began was 580 mg/L lower than the pretreatment BOD₅ result (Figure 1).

Figure 2. Average annual influent BOD₅ (blue) and TSS (grey) concentrations to the ALS pretreatment and during treatment with PBII.

Additionally, monthly BOD₅ and TSS concentrations were measured at the influent wet well a year before treatment and a year after the start of treatment. Average annual concentration values were calculated from this data set. The average annual influent BOD₅ and TSS was reduced by approximately 42 and 266 mg/L during treatment (Figure 2).

Throughout the PBII treatment, the facility avoided system maintenance related to overloading. Augmenting the collection system with PBII helped reduce the BOD₅ and TSS loads to the lagoon system which promoted more efficient treatment. The facility also avoided permit violation fees while using BioLynceus® bioaugmentation.

BioLynceus® ProBiotic Scrubber® II provides effective pretreatment for aerated lagoon systems.

¹ 5210 BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD). Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater. Published online August 27, 2018. https://www.standardmethods.org/doi/ref/10.2105/SMWW.2882.102