In a typical city’s total power bill, more than a third of the energy is used in the aeration process at the wastewater treatment plant serving the population. A new game that will be featured at WEFTEC in the HSI Blowers booth is designed to inform and educate wastewater facility managers and operators about the importance of proper control methods to save energy in aeration systems.
The Efficient City WWTP video game is a character driven single-player simulation and training game that is set in a modern world wastewater treatment plant. The player takes control of Joe, a wastewater facility manager, whose mission is to control and maintain the facility during both normal operations and various adverse events.
The game moves in accelerated speeds as compared to a real life scenario and events are exaggerated to make a better gaming experience while still teaching basic concepts of saving energy.
Key energy saving concepts within the game include:
- Balancing Flow Rates to Multiple Basins
- Sequencing Multiple Blowers
- Regulating Blower Flow Rates
- Maintaining Dissolved Oxygen Levels
- Keeping Header Pressure Low
- Adjusting to Changing Demands
The final score is based on how effectively the player maintains the plant’s effluent quality and how much energy is used to accomplish these tasks.
Attendees at WEFTEC, to be held Oct. 17-19 in Los Angeles, can play the video game in the HSI Blowers Booth 129. The daily high score gets an iPad 2. See the video game trailer at: www.youtube.com/user/HSIBlowers.