Reducing the carbon footprint of wastewater treatment has become a priority for many municipalities. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have an important role in helping meet some of the bold sustainability targets announced by policymakers on the local, regional, national and even international levels. In fact, many plants are reevaluating operations and aligning their targets with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 13 for climate action.
Even as WWTPs set ambitious new climate mitigation targets, the truth is that many are struggling to meet current environmental requirements, including effluent standards. The reason? Climate-induced extreme weather. In the face of intense precipitation in some places and prolonged drought in others, climate adaption is equally urgent. It presents unique challenges to wastewater management.
Sudden storm-surge conditions can cause sewer overflows that can pollute local waterways like rivers and lakes. Environmental damage from e.g. bacteria can take a long time to repair. One example is the growing concern over the increased levels of total coliforms, in particular E. coli, found in bathing waters throughout Europe. This has led to multiple beach closures, impacting the tourism industry.
Drawing on Kemira’s 100 years of chemistry expertise, KemConnect™ DEX provides safe and reliable automation for water disinfection.
Disinfection the digital way
In response to these challenges, Kemira has developed a chlorine-free alternative to energy- and investment-heavy UV wastewater disinfection. The Kemira KemConnect™ DEX solution generates no by-products, eliminating the risk of harm to aquatic ecosystems. The system is based on performic acid (PFA). It automatically optimizes the dosage level and allows for very quick reaction times, ensuring effluent permit compliance. It comes with a compact on-site generator system, which measures influent stormwater flows, coagulant dosage rates, polymer dosage rates, as well as untreated and treated total suspended solids (TSS). All that data is fed into a proprietary algorithm, which computes the optimal dosages based on the conditions.
The same system can be used to quickly ramp up dosing when there is sewer overflow caused by storm-surge conditions. Drawing on Kemira’s 100 years of chemistry expertise, KemConnect™ DEX provides safe and reliable automation for water disinfection.
Read more about KemConnect™ DEX for storm water conditions
Water reuse without worry
KemConnect™ DEX can also offer a helpful solution for municipalities that are implementing water reuse. Places like California and Singapore already have robust reuse programs in place. Now Europe is moving in a similar direction. A new regulation on minimum requirements for water reuse for agricultural irrigation begins in June 2023.
Regardless of location, WWTPs that process and purify influent from various sources must ensure they meet stringent safety guidelines so that reclaimed water is safe e.g. for irrigation, agriculture or industry. For example, the new European regulation establishes harmonized minimum water quality requirements for the safe reuse of treated urban wastewaters in agriculture. It includes minimum monitoring and permitting requirements, as well as risk management and transparency provisions.
Future-proof your operations
In addition to keeping your plant in compliance also through extreme weather conditions, smart process management through KemConnect™ can help water utilities be more efficient with energy and resource use – thanks to transparency and continuous optimization.
At Kemira, we are excited about the possibilities. Recent advances present tremendous opportunities for wastewater treatment facilities that are ready to embrace digital innovation.
