Nutrient pollution is one of America’s costliest and most challenging environmental problems. However, many of the nation’s wastewater plants were not designed for nutrient removal and major retrofits may be a significant hurdle.
EPA recently released draft report on “Case Studies on Implementing Low-Cost Modifications to Improve Nutrient Reduction at Wastewater Treatment Plants.” The recent EPA draft report showcases a number of communities that were able to achieve better nutrient treatment at WWTPs through relatively low-cost modifications without requiring costly infrastructure upgrades. Nitrogen discharge levels in 12 case study plants were reduced by about 20 to 70%. In many cases, these facilities also reduced energy consumption and lowered operational costs.
EPA is interested in learning of additional communities’ successes and intends to update this document to help more of the nation’s wastewater treatment plants make progress towards additional nutrient reductions. Interested parties are invited to comment and recommend additional case studies by December 15, 2015 to POTWOptiNP@epa.gov.