Selection of Sewage Water Treatment Plant

somthing that turns it into fertalizer and gas for recycling would be good so you get some sort of return from it.

I you have some real estate available, you might want to consider constructed wetlands as well. Most importantly, how is the load going to expand in the future? You can almost guarantee that in 10 years, someone is going to try to attach another 1500 residences to your system...

Scale=1500 people.

"It would totally eliminate the need to tie in to the sanitary sewer system, saving everyone a lot of money."

I thought this WAS the sanitary sewer system...

It was assumed that this treatment plant was essentially a pre-treatment plant for sanitary waste that would ultimately be sent to a sewer district.

IF the discharge is intended to be released back to nature directly, then the wet lands polishing system would be ideal for the final clean-up before release.

For a small plant the number one is best

1500 people is not that small... that's a lot of water.

Unless you are in the water rich North East of the US, you may also consider investing a bit more in the treatment plant and later expand it to include a refining stage for water reuse.

A third stage, following a "secondary treatment" Activated Sludge or MBR, using some sort of Constructed Wetland System may be very convenient if you have the space.

There are filters that are self-cleaning, syphon activated (they do not need any electricity to activate the backwash) that can remove a good amount of solids.

Also look at the use of the reused water. If you plan to water a golf course, there would be little need to eliminate completely the nutrients ( N and P).

And the best suggestion I can give you is hiring somebody who can deal with the plant. You will need a "renaissance man", who can fix a pump, adjust weirs, cut grass, deal with a compressor, etc. The person who is in charge of the operation may be your best investment.

good luck.

Whilst this is the industry in which I make my living, ie 'Wastewater and Odor Controll'

Why don't you just 'bite the bullet' and go "composting". It's 'greener', and there's no publicly funded infrastructure to waste money on. Besides, it's a small community.

Stu

The thing about waste water treatment is the economics and quality of treatment are based on many factors, such as regulatory limits for discharges; cost and availability of land; labor costs; availability of construction materials; and Environmental Impacts like aesthetics, air quality, and biological impacts, to name a few. Land tends to be one of the main considerations to look at. The different processes require different faiclities sizes,and land costs can play a huge role in the capital development costs. Also, the availability of land is a very limitting factor in some cases that forces selection of a different option. You should have a master plan for each facility that compares and contrasts the factors and life cycle costs for each so you can make a decision. It should also discuss the other factors, which may not readily be quantified, that could effect development and selection.

Without knowing the circumstances, your budget, your geographical location or any number of other questions that establishes the context of your proposed system, my own experience suggets that generally an activated sludge system would give you the most 'bullet-proof' system. It costs a little more to set up properly but will give you the most simple and low cost operation with minimal community impact (odours etc.) However if you are in a protected environment and can make use of a good source of recycled water then a submerged membrane bioreactor could be the answer. See the attached link for a system used on Magnetic Island on the Great Barrier Reef in Australa.

www.membrane.unsw.edu.au/imstec03/content/.../imstec177.pdf

Regards,

Pete.

There is a MBBR unit that will handle up to 450M3/day made by On-Flow in theUS that is being used for housing tracts in Mexico.

Check out the website: www.on-flow.com. It's the best on the market.

Have you thought about land application/spray field?