Everglades National Park selects membrane technology for wastewater treatment

EDWARDSVILLE, Kan., March 9, 2004 -- Everglades National Park, a sanctuary for 21 threatened and endangered species and a crucial water recharge area for South Florida has selected membrane bioreactor treatment technology to treat wastewater at two crucial park facilities.

Two FastPac™ Immersed Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) packaged plants from USFilter will be installed for the park's Pine Island area located in Dade County and Flamingo Bay area located in Monroe County.

With the park's existing operating facilities outdated and unable to meet future regulatory guidelines, the new plants will be a part of the park's effort to find a long-term solution for wastewater treatment.

Currently, wastewater treatment at the Pine Island site includes the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center, park maintenance facilities and residential housing, which is accomplished through individual septic tanks and drain fields.

The Flamingo site, located within one of the largest mangrove ecosystem in the Western Hemisphere, currently uses an aging secondary wastewater treatment plant with rapid rate land application of the treated wastewater in rapid infiltration basins. New discharge limits have made the existing plant obsolete.

The FastPac™ MBR package plant for Pine Island will be designed to treat an average of 25,000 gallons of wastewater per day (gpd) and the Flamingo facility designed to treat 90,000 gpd. Both facilities are designed to reduce total phosphorous in the plant effluent to 0.1 mg/l or less. The plant design will also ensure an effective, efficient, and reliable wastewater treatment system that meets all federal, state, and local operational and effluent standards.

The FastPac™ MBR is a pre-engineered system that uses advanced membrane technology to achieve a compact and robust treatment package. It is a complete factory preassembled treatment plant containing many of the operational features of the most advanced municipal plants. The highly automated design provides many important features to meet the demands of stringent environmental requirements.

Millions of people and thousands of companies rely on USFilter every day to help them meet their clean water needs. Headquartered in Palm Desert, Calif., USFilter (www.usfilter.com) is a $1 billion water company with 6,000 experienced professionals dedicated to delivering cost-effective, reliable water and wastewater treatment systems and services to municipal, industrial, commercial and institutional customers worldwide.