ST THOMAS, ONTARIO, JULY 21, 2016 -- The City of St Thomas has formally approved plans to implement Lystek Thermal Hydrolysis solutions for biosolids management. "We are pleased to be moving forward with the implementation of the Lystek technology" says Justin Lawrence, Director, Environmental Services and City Engineer for the City of St. Thomas.
The city's current plant is a conventional wastewater treatment facility. It provides wastewater services to St. Thomas and the surrounding area. Wastewater flows through the city’s sanitary sewer systems and 12 pumping stations and is collected at the WPCP for treatment.
With a current, rated average daily capacity of approximately 27,300 cubic meters or 7,212,000 U.S. gallons per day, wastewater is treated and subsequently safely released to the local waterway under the strict requirements of the Ministry of the Environment.
Historically, the St. Thomas WPCP has utilized anaerobic digestion to process their biosolids. After digestion, the material is dewatered and transported to landfill. However, forward looking city staff were concerned with the general "health and shape" of their existing digesters and they wanted a better, more sustainable, year-round management solution for their community.
Therefore, city staff reviewed 7 different solutions using a number of factors including projected, future growth of the community and the availability of advanced technologies for the safe treatment and beneficial use of this potentially valuable resource. A detailed, evaluation criteria was subsequently developed to identify a preferred alternative. As a result, two, short listed options emerged;
- Invest in new anaerobic digesters – or;
- Invest in the Lystek Thermal Hydrolysis Process (Lystek THP)
The evaluation was sorted into four, main categories;
- Environment & Community
- Social
- Technical
- Economics
The solutions were somewhat comparable in the first three categories (within 10%), however, when it came to the category of Economics, a total Net Present Value evaluation, (capital and 60 years of operation) clearly revealed that the Lystek solution would be at least 40% more cost effective than anaerobic digestion.
The patented and proven, multi-use, Lystek technology leverages an innovative physical/chemical process to achieve excellent results in biosolids and organics treatment including the creation of a fully marketable, federally registered, Class A quality, biofertilizer product called LysteGro.
Due to significant cost savings and the demonstrated, exceptional performance of this product, it is in high demand in agriculture, horticulture, sod farming and other industries. Plus, this same, low cost system can also be utilized to create LysteCarb, an alternative source of carbon for use in biological nutrient removal (BNR) systems.
Based on all of these factors, the city decided to engage Lystek to design and build this new system and to develop and implement a sustainable long-term biosolids management program; a program that will provide the lowest life cycle cost to the city and service its future growth projections while producing a highly desired product and diverting valuable, organic material from landfill.
“After much research and analysis, it became clear that the Lystek solution was the best, net solution for St. Thomas,” says Mr. Lawrence. “The technical criteria were proven through a peer review of existing installations. The environmental and social benefits are primarily the re-use of bio-nutrients and a greatly improved odor control system. The lower life-cycle capital and operating costs create a significant savingsand we can also improve our capacity in the biosolids system. We are confident this decision will pay economic and environmental dividends.”
St. Thomas joins a rapidly expanding list of communities using the patented, Lystek THP solution. The approximately $10 million project will enable the city to divert biosolids from landfill and join the movement to convert traditional wastewater treatment plants into resource recovery centers.
“We are proud to have been chosen by the community of St. Thomas as we continue to expand our market leading solutions across North America” said Bill Mullin, Business Development Manager for Lystek International. “We look forward to working with the city to showcase our capabilities and continue demonstrating our commitment to reducing “waste”, costs and environmental impact. “
