WABASEEMOONG INDEPENDENT NATIONS

Using BioPorts™ MBBR to upgrade existing tanks to meet nutrient limits in a small footprint.

Project Background & Challenges

Wabaseemoong Independent First Nations are a group of three communities located near the Ontario–Manitoba border about 120 kilometers north of Kenora, Ontario. These communities represent approximately 2,000 Ojibwe people, with 1,280 living on the reservation. When the reservation was in need of a 5-year upgrade to their existing wastewater treatment system, Nexom got the call.

The Nexom Answer

Since they already had RBC tanks in place, Nexom suggested retrofitting these to a BioPorts™ treatment system, entailing:

  • Implementing a Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) for BOD and ammonia treatment in the existing RBC tanks.
  • Retaining existing headworks and primary clarification, with a modification to the RBC influent piping to prevent media backflow into the primary clarifiers
  • Retaining existing secondary clarifiers.
  • Installing twelve EDI CoarsAir™ MaxAir Stainless Steel diffusers within each tank of the MBBR system, for a total of 24 diffusers, for energy efficient coarse bubble aeration that would not require membrane replacements.

With this BioPorts MBBR installation, not only would the plant see cost savings with energy efficiency from the EDI coarse bubble configuration, but there would be full integration into their existing structure, giving the community intensified treatment within a small footprint, with low civil and land acquisition costs. Their treatment system would meet all the existing limits while being both simple to operate and reliable.

Upgraded System Performance

Since its completion in January of 2024, the client has been happy with the performance of both the blower and the overall success of the BioPorts MBBR system with EDI CoarsAir Max aeration.

Project Information

 

Project Type: Municipal Wastewater Reuse

Completion Date:  January 2024

Treatment Objectives

Design Flow:

  • 438 m³/day Average

Effulent Objectives:

  • <180 mg/L TSS
  • <5 mg/L cBOD₅
  • <25 mg/L TAN

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