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A decision made 11 December 2009 regarding: Briefing on Bellozanne Sewage Treatment Works - work to comply with discharge permit.

Decision Reference: MD-T-2009-0111
Decision Summary Title :	Approval of Sewage Treatment Works consent compliance projects		Date of Decision Summary:	9/12/09
Decision Summary Author:	Operations Manager Waste Water Treatment		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title :	Bellozanne Sewage Treatment Works – Consent Compliance		Date of Written Report:
Written Report Author:	Operations Manager Waste Water Treatment		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: Briefing on the Bellozanne Sewage Treatment Works consent compliance works that are currently being undertaken. It outlines the drivers for the proposed works, their scope and the capital cost.
Decision(s): The Minister noted the progress on the Bellozanne Sewage Treatment Consent Compliance Projects.
Reason(s) for Decision: The Sewage Treatment Works is currently failing its discharge permit under the Water Pollution (Jersey) Law, 2000. Completion of the projects will enhance the current performance of the sewage treatment works reducing nitrogen inputs into receiving waters.
Resource Implications: The cost of the projects will be met from within existing budgets.
Action required: N/A
Signature:		Position:
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Briefing on Bellozanne Sewage Treatment Works - work to comply with discharge permit

TRANSPORT AND TECHNICAL SERVICES

BELLOZANNE SEWAGE TREATMENT WORKS – CONSENT COMPLIANCE

Purpose of the Report

The purpose of the report is to brief the Minister on the Bellozanne Sewage Treatment Works consent compliance works that are currently being undertaken. It outlines the drivers for the proposed works, their scope and the capital cost.

Discussion

In the early 1990s, it became evident that the Sewage Treatment Works needed to be upgraded to increase its capacity and replace some of the outdated/inefficient equipment. Subsequently, it was agreed that the upgrade should include a nutrient removal process to decrease the amount of nitrogen entering St Aubin’s Bay.

The work was completed in 2002 but the agreed nitrogen output levels were not met. The discharge permit (reference number DC2000/07/01) under the Water Pollution (Jersey) Law, 2000 requires an annual average concentration of less than 10 mg/l total nitrogen and 35 mg/l suspended solids (on a 95 percentile basis).

The Department has continued with its efforts to improve the performance of the works together with monitoring of the water quality in St Aubin’s Bay. The Process Optimisation Study concluded that Activated Sludge Plant (ASP) is undersized for the present and future conditions, and will not achieve the nitrogen limit. The performance of the works is and has always been adversely affected by the limited hydraulic gradient. Flow distribution at each stage of the process is unsatisfactory.

The study identified a number of short to medium term options to address some of the shortcomings. Others can be rectified in time, perhaps by adopting a phased approach. Regardless of the approach, it is important that all works fit in with the long term plans for sewage treatment in Jersey.

This briefing provides an update on the current status of the investigations and works to improve the performance of the ASP. The main items of work are described in the following table.

Issue Description	Proposed Solution	Current Status
1. Eradicate the filaments for improved settleability and overcome foaming problems	Modify the ‘selectors’ at the start of the activated sludge process	Implemented in 2009 at a cost of £100k
2.Improve the plug flow arrangements and reduce short circuiting in the lanes.	Provide baffles in the anoxic zones	Included in above
3. Improve the security of the system and allow for process variations	Provide RAS pumps and associated equipment	See following text
4. Need for a more robust system for improved reliability	Investigate process options	See following text
5&6. Effective denitrification	Establish the mixed liquor recycles/ use of a carbon source	See following text
7. Negotiate relaxed consent with the Regulator	Carry out Eutrophic Status study of St Aubin’s Bay to determine if the receiving waters are capable of taking more nitrogen	Survey ongoing. Due to finish in July 2010
8. New discharge permit conditions required by the Regulator	Installation of measured applied dose monitoring in UV plant required.	Awaiting quotations

Item 3 & 4 Return Activated Sludge (RAS) Pumping Station

The existing RAS Pumping Station has two Archimedes screw pumps (duty/assist, each rated 325 l/s) with no standby capacity. It is proposed to construct a new submersible pumping station with two pumps (duty/assist, each rated 200 l/s). One of the existing RAS screw pumps would be retained as standby. The delivery main will include a bifurcation to enable the RAS to be delivered to the front and/or the back end of the selector zones of each lane.

On completion of these items, Item 5 will be brought back into service and Item 6 will be initiated as part of continuous improvements.

Items 5 & 6 Process Options

All ASP options must meet the total nitrogen consent and to facilitate this, nitrification and denitrification processes are required.

Denitrification

This requires recycling of the mixed liquor, which is the discharge from the aeration tanks. As noted previously, recycling presently exacerbates the filament problem, there are associated foaming problems and the process becomes unstable. Some temporary works have been completed to stabilise the process and permit recycling.

Nitrification

To achieve full nitrification, the 2002 upgrade incorporated Pegazur pellets in the aeration zones. This is a high rate fixed film process which requires a far smaller footprint than a conventional plant. These pellets are no longer readily available and due to the loss of these pellets by natural abrasion, those in Lane 3 were used to top up the other cells and replaced with Meteor pellets. However, these only work well with coarse bubble diffusers and not the fine bubble diffuser system in Bellozanne. This is because the biological film on the pellets is removed by the scouring action by the fine bubbles.

A number of other options have been investigated, which cover a range of processes and prices. Replacing the Meteor pellets with Pegazur ones might result in full nitrification. However, because of the ongoing reduction in pellets, there will probably be a need to top them up in a few years time at significant cost. The only manufacturer is in Japan and they will not offer any process guarantees.

Eimco Water Technologies have suggested a low cost solution based on the IFAS (Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge) Cleartec Process. Eimco has indicated that full nitrification can be achieved within the aeration zones and it will be a requirement for the supplier to provide a performance guarantee. However, due to inadequate anoxic zone volume, it will not be possible to guarantee the annual average total nitrogen level without the addition of an external carbon source. As an alternative, Eimco are to explore the possibility of managing the return liquor load.

Although the process is attractive and has a number of intrinsic benefits, there are some risks. Therefore, it is proposed to undertake a performance trial in Lane 3 prior to full installation. Trial procedures have been agreed to assess the performance of the process.

A breakdown of the cost is as follows:

Lane 3 Upgrades in Year 2010 £ 545,000.00

Lane 2 Upgrades in Year 2011 £ 500,000.00

Lane 1 Upgrades in Year 2012 £ 500,000.00

Total £1,545,000.00

The implementation of the ASP trial at the earliest opportunity would demonstrate to the Regulator that positive steps are being taken, thereby minimising the risk of prosecution. The estimated total project cost of this is £1,545,000, with the initial cost to complete the works in Lane 3 being £545,000. Further investigations will be carried out on the use of a carbon source in the anoxic zone. In the meantime, it will be necessary to apply for interim discharge consent for a higher total nitrogen limit. This will only be possible once the results from the St Aubin’s Bay Eutrophic Status study are available.

Recommendations

The Minister is recommended to note the progress on the Bellozanne Sewage Treatment Consent Compliance Projects.

Reason (s) for Decision

The Sewage Treatment Works is currently failing its discharge permit under the Water Pollution (Jersey) Law, 2000. Completion of the project will enhance the current performance of the sewage treatment works reducing nitrogen inputs into receiving waters.

Action Required

N/A


Written by:	Senior Operations Manager – Waste Water Treatment

Approved by:	Acting Waste Director