Water Reuse in Florida, USA

Water Reuse in Florida, USA

The US wastewater minimization market is highly affected by a few key drivers: pollution prevention, water recycling, and water reuse. These drivers have been brought about by water shortages, increasing population, and more stringent environmental regulations -- all of which increase the cost of clean water and lead to the reduction, and the need for more efficient use, of water supplies. Population increases lead to greater water needs and a rise in the production of wastewater. Already, as communities approach the limits of their available water supplies in their effort to meet the needs of potable, agricultural, industrial and commercial consumers, water reclamation and reuse are becoming necessary to conserve and expand the dwindling supply.

In Pinellas County, Florida’s most densely populated county, water conservation and efficient use of all water resources is facilitated by a state-of-the-art water reclamation facility. The South Cross Bayou Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) is a permitted advanced wastewater treatment facility (AWTF) using a tertiary treatment process to treat an average daily flow rate of 33 MGD. The South Cross Bayou Water Reclamation Facility cleans and treats wastewater to meet reclaimed water standards of 5-5-3-1.
In Florida, advanced wastewater treatment standards require an effluent quality which is no more than 5 ppm BOD, 5 ppm TSS, 3 ppm (or mg/l) TN and 1 ppm Total Phosphorus (TP). The wastewater treatment process is made up of four treatment stages: primary sedimentation followed by anaerobic, anoxic and oxic zones; secondary sedimentation, tertiary filtration with nutrient removal and disinfection treatment. During the primary treatment phase, large solids are eliminated and the bio-treatment phase uses microorganisms to break down smaller solids. The secondary phase clarifiers the wastewater. Unwanted nitrogen-based compounds and finely suspended particles are removed in the tertiary treatment phase. The final treatment stage involves disinfection with chlorine to eliminate disease-causing organisms. While the goal of the facility is to use 100% of the reclaimed water for irrigation purposes in the surrounding area, the advanced treatment enables wastewater to be released into nearby Joe’s Creek when it otherwise could not be recycled for use. In such instances, the reclaimed wastewater must meet permitted regulations and requires additional treatment prior to discharge into Joe’s Creek. The wastewater is treated to remove chlorine and re-aerated to enrich it with additional oxygen.
Pinellas County has two wastewater treatment facilities, the W.E. Dunn WRF to the North and the South Cross Bayou WRF serving the southern part of the county. The 33 MGD Pinellas County South Cross Bayou AWTF has a peak flow rate of 66+ MGD. In an effort to meet required standards, the facility uses twelve 9'-8" wide x 85' long TETRA® DeepBed filters with 6' of media each. The system also employs a TetraPace automatic dose control system and SpeedBump to conduct a complete system bump cycle without stopping flow to the reactors.

Wastewater to the South Cross Bayou WRF flows to a common headworks, traveling through suspended solids screens and teacups for grit removal before splitting into separate trains. Once separated, the streams pass through rectangular primary clarification, anaerobic and anoxic zones followed by fine bubble diffusers and secondary clarification. After secondary clarification, the streams are once again combined and are then pumped to the 10,000 square feet of TETRA® Denite filters. After denitrification, chlorination is injected and the stream is split for reuse where it is stored in three 10-million gallon tanks or dechlorinated for flow that will be diverted to Joe’s Creek, which runs into the Gulf of Mexico.
STS Contact Information: Dave Slack, Tel: 813.886.9331 dslack@severntrentservices.com