Dropping in the Discs (article by Lori Larsen, Camrose Booster)
Article by Lori Larsen, Camrose Booster
On July 6 City of Camrose Councillors Agnes Hoveland, Kevin Hycha, Lucas Banack and Don Rosland, joined City of Camrose Infrastructure General Manager Kris Johnson, Engineering Services Manager Jeremy Enarson and Engineering Services Assistant Kirsten Nichols, started the process of putting the Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor or MBBR media plastic discs into the large concrete holding tanks of the new Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP).
“The main unloading of the over 630 million media will be completed by the WWTP main contractor starting in early to mid-July, continuing over the next six weeks,” explained Enarson.
The discs are placed in the tanks as an integral part of the process to remove ammonia from the city’s wastewater.
“The plastic discs will be circulating around in the tanks while bacteria grow on the surfaces of the discs. When the discs come in contact with the wastewater, the bacteria will digest the ammonia, therefore reducing the amount of ammonia in the city’s treated wastewater. To help speed along this process, the City will be pumping air into the wastewater using blowers, which will provide both mixing of the plastic discs, as well as the oxygen that the bacteria will need to digest the ammonia.”
Enarson further explained why this process is vital. “The ammonia, if it gets out into the environment in high concentrations, can result in a fish kill. The result of what the City is doing with the MBBR plastic discs is lowering ammonia levels in treated wastewater, which will have less of an impact on the fish environment.”
The other important component of the Wastewater Treatment Plant is the removal of phosphorus which occurs in the main processing building.
“While phosphorus is not immediately toxic to fish, phosphorus and other nutrients can be released into the environment and that can lead to the algae blooms that you see on lakes which depletes the oxygen levels and that can kill fish over time. By removing phosphorus from the City’s wastewater, we are also improving the quality of what is released back to the environment.”
Upgrades to the City of Camrose Wastewater Treatment Plant began in 2021 with an expected timeline of completion in early 2024.
The proposed $51.1 million upgrades are intended to meet requirements for additional capacity and the need for higher treatment standards driven by regulations. This upgraded plant will provide cleaner water back into the watershed and give the community room to grow.
Pictured left to right are City of Camrose Councillors Lucas Banack and Kevin Hycha, City of Camrose Engineering Services Manager Jeremy Enarson, and Councillors Don Rosland and Agnes Hoveland doing the inaugural dropping of the MBBR plastic discs into the south MBBR holding tank of the new Wastewater Treatment Plant, on July 6.
