Wastewater Treatment Technology Makes North America Debut

Nereda® Aerobic Granular Sludge (AGS) Technology is an innovative biological wastewater system that provides advanced treatment using the unique features of aerobic granular biomass, comprised of granules. The Nereda process was created by a public-private partnership with Delft University, Dutch Water Authorities and Royal HaskoningDHV in the Netherlands.

The technology has been used successfully for more than 12 years in full-scale wastewater treatment facilities with over 40 plants currently in operation or under design and construction. This experience has demonstrated that the technology offers several advantages when compared to conventional activated sludge systems, including significant footprint reduction and energy and chemical savings under a wide range of influent characteristics, applications, and climates. While these plants are located around the world, just recently the technology has become available in North America due to a partnership between Aqua-Aerobic Systems Inc. and Royal HaskoningDHV, allowing Aqua-Aerobic to be the exclusive provider of Nereda technology in the U.S. and Canada, where it is marketed under the brand AquaNereda® Aerobic Granular Sludge Technology.

To introduce the technology to the North American market, Aqua-Aerobic Systems is building a 200,000-gallon-per-day demonstration facility, which is nearing completion at the Rock River Water Reclamation District (RRWRD) in Rockford, Ill. This fully automated system is expected to be operational by the end of 2017. The new AquaNereda demonstration facility is unique with the capability of operating at a range of water level depths, so that the unique advantages of AGS can be demonstrated at the various process depths often seen in U.S. retrofit applications.

To introduce Nereda technology to the North American market, Aqua-Aerobic Systems is building a 200,000-gallon-per-day demonstration facility at the Rock River Water Reclamation District in Rockford, Ill.

The demonstration facility will provide a North American site to grow and store seed granules for future plants in the U.S. to accelerate biological nutrient removal during commissioning of new plants. Additionally, this facility will provide an easily accessible aerobic granular sludge site for engineers and plant operators to visit in North America.

Prior to the construction of the demonstration facility, a four-week AGS pilot study was completed at RRWRD in the spring of 2017. The pilot unit was equipped with two independent AGS reactors. Both reactors were seeded to an MLSS strength of 8 g/L with aerobic granules obtained from a full-scale Nereda aerobic granular sludge plant shipped from overseas.

The Nereda process has been used successfully for more than 12 years in full-scale wastewater treatment facilities around the globe.

One of the primary objectives of the pilot was to demonstrate the rapid acclimation of granules which had been dormant in shipping containers for 2-3 months. To that end, nitrification was observed within 2.5 weeks of start-up. Within four weeks, BOD5 and total suspended solids (TSS) were both reduced to less than 10 mg/L, total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) were reduced to < 3 mg/L and 0.8 mg/L, respectively. Overall, this pilot study produced the same excellent effluent quality as seen at the 40+ full scale installations.

Following granule acclimation, operation at the RRWRD demonstration facility will focus on varying process water depths, increased MLSS strength, solids handling, and various process control strategies. In addition, it will be a site for engineers and plant operators to visit and learn more about the technology. WW

Since 1969, Aqua-Aerobic Systems Inc. has been a leader in the design, application and manufacture of wastewater treatment equipment and systems for municipal and industrial markets worldwide. To learn more, visit www.aqua-aerobic.com.