Alternative Energy in Wastewater Treatment

Is there any special association of solar energy with wastewater treatment that would make wastewater treatment benefit any more or less than any other industry?

(In contrast to the possibility of sewage treatment benefitting from methane-supplied fuel cells, in which there would be a logical connection.)

I have often suggested a low pressure tromp to harness water power beside a waste water treatment plant. The tromp needs a half meter (minimum) waterfall, and it produces low pressure air to be bubbled into the activated sludge tank. You get double duty on the oxygenation of water because you oxygenate in the tromp in the river as well as in the activated sludge tank. For some reason people turn up their noses at this. But the capital cost of doing this is tiny and half to 1 meter head (at a weir for instance) is never used for anything anyway.

In many cases, this 1/2m of drop would have to be produced by having the waste pumping station work harder. Unless the city is up a hill and the plant is in the valley, your suggestion is an energy "sink".

Nevertheless, there might be a small percentage of the plants that could be usable. Good luck finding them and keep us informed.

PS. Waste water treatment plants are not the most interesting places to try new technologies for obvious reasons. One might be that nobody is interested in catching Hepatitis A, B, or C (or other nasty things) to recover a few KW. Are you volunteering to fix the equipment after it soaked in wastes for months?

It is easy to have a "good idea". It is very difficult to have a "practical idea"...

I guess you misread my post. I was talking about using a half meter drop in a river beside the treatment plant to power the tromp. There are lots of half meter drops (and more) unused in rivers. It is generally too capital intensive to convert this energy to electricity but all you need to convert it to low pressure air is water pipes.

I wondered if not putting any paper in toilets at home would help matters at all.ds

Sun and Wind can play important role in waste water treatment. The algae can cut back BOD values extensively and its growth needs Sun.

Having a vertical rotor shaft Half cut drums in S form and floating) to run impeller below water surface can reduce BOD too with aeration. Wind power pumps can lift water up and create a water fall to significantly mix air with water. There can be other methods too and readers can share such experiences.

A well-run municipal wastewater treatment plant is a net exporter of electricity.

Please explain your viewpoint, as it may be one overlooked...

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