Newland Communities and Pierce County
This project was one of the largest and most comprehensive deployment and technology development projects for wastewater treatment. It was conducted to demonstrate and develop the primary filtration technology to save energy and increase capacity at the wastewater treatment plants. This three-year wastewater primary filtration deployment and technology development project was funded by the California Energy Commission with multiple sponsors from industry, academia, professional associations, and public utilities.
The project included filtration of raw wastewater before the secondary treatment to achieve significant energy savings (up to 25-30 percent savings compared to conventional primary treatment) while increasing the plant performance and capacity. Primary filtration is also used to remove high solids concentrations to equalize the load at wastewater treatment facilities. Three demonstration sites, representing different characteristics in size and wastewater quality, were used in the study, including the Los Angeles County Sanitation District’s Lancaster Water Reclamation Plant.
This study demonstrated a cost-effective technology to lower secondary treatment energy demand, lower treatment system footprint, extend life of secondary treatment systems, minimize fluctuation in organic loading to secondary treatment and enhance digester energy production. This technology was successfully demonstrated at all three sites as part of the CEC study and included the first full-scale primary filtration system in the United States.
Awards Received:
- CWEA Los Angeles Basin Section Research Achievement Award Recipient, 2018 – Primary Filtration Process at the Lancaster Water Reclamation Facility. KJ was a Co-Applicant with Los Angeles County Sanitation District.
- CWEA State Level Research Achievement Award Recipient, 2019 – Primary Filtration Process at the Lancaster Water Reclamation Facility. KJ was a Co-Applicant with Los Angeles County Sanitation District.
- WEFTEC 2018 Martha Hahn Best Paper Award
Final Project Report:
https://ww2.energy.ca.gov/2020publications/CEC-500-2020-026/CEC-500-2020-026.pdf
