A Case Study in Sludge Handling

Walski, Thomas M.; Biga, Bernard R.; ,

A Case Study in Sludge Handling

by Thomas M. Walski, Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority, Wilkes-Barre, United States,
Bernard R. Biga, Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority, Wilkes-Barre, United States,

Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Environmental Engineering

Abstract:

When the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority (WVSA) converted its operation to a secondary treatment plant in 1988, something important was missing. That something was a method to handle secondary sludge. WVSA had operated a primary plant for twenty years but the vacuum coil filters from the primary plant were not up to the task of dewatering secondary sludge for WVSA's 11,560 1b/hr (5254 kg/hr) multiple heart incinerator. WVSA is a regional wastewater treatment facility serving 27 municipalities located in the Wyoming Valley along the Susquehanna River in northeastern Pennsylvania. The new secondary plant is a 'low-load countercurrent' plant with a rated dry weather capacity of 32 MGD (1.4 cum/s) and a wet weather capacity of 50 MGD (2.2 cum/s), consisting of four parallel, independent trains. The secondary process is preceded by bar screening, grit and grease removal and metering, but not primary treatment. The secondary plant was constructed under a consent decree with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources. Because of the milestones in that document, work progressed on the secondary plant even though progress on the associated sludge handling facilities was held up for a number of reasons. The result was a plant that by the winter of 1988 was inundated in its own sludge.

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