Beau Rivage WWTP – Wilmington, NC
Beau Rivage WWTP – Wilmington, NC
Retrofitting a Municipal Treatment Plant on a Tight Timeline
Aqua-America was facing a multitude of challenges at a municipal treatment plant it owns & operated in Wilmington, NC. The existing treatment plant had become obsolete, could not meet substantially increased daily flows or the new permit requirements that increased the effluent limits. As the coordinator for Aqua-America said, “We need the new plant operational within a year (from Spring 2017) & you have a postage size land allocation to fit the plant. We need you to deliver the system in (2) phases of parallel treatment trains as we cannot stop the treatment & processing of wastewater for a single day.” AquaPoint was selected to provide a treatment system to meet these very restrictive challenges.
In order to fit Aqua-America’s timeline, AquaPoint developed an aggressive project schedule & based on the design criteria opted to use the AquaFAS Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge process in a fabricated carbon steel treatment plant. Coordinating with the project engineer & general contractor, AquaPoint was able to design, fabricate, install, & commission a dual train AquaFAS treatment system that went online in May 2018. Furthermore, AquaPoint delivered the system within the specified footprint in complete phases so that Aqua-America could continue its wastewater treatment without interruption.
Design Characteristics
| Influent | Effluent | |
| DESIGN FLOW (MGD) | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| BOD5 (mg/l) | 250 | < 5 |
| TSS (mg/l) | 250 | < 15 |
| TKN (mg/l) | 50 | – |
| AMMONIA-N (mg/l) | – | <2 |
Performance Data
- System Commissioned: May 2018. Avg. year prior (mg/l): BOD = 27.41; TSS = 2.94; NH3 = 23.91
- Detectable Limit for BOD & TSS: 2 & 3 mg/l respectively
- Data Source: ECHO (U.S. EPA)
| DATE | BOD5 (mg/l) | TSS (mg/l) | NH3 (mg/l) |
| JAN. 2021 | 7.40 | 8.02 | 0.50 |
| FEB. 2021 | 6.25 | 12.03 | 0.20 |
| MAR. 2021 | 11.20 | 10.35 | 0.10 |
| APR. 2021 | 7.00 | 11.85 | 0.28 |
| MAY 2021 | 3.20 | 3.50 | 0.04 |
| JUN. 2021 | 4.25 | 6.35 | 0.90 |
| JUL. 2021 | 5.20 | 3.48 | 1.56 |
| AUG. 2021 | 3.75 | 3.83 | 1.43 |
| SEP. 2021 | 2.25 | 0.90 | 0.48 |
| OCT. 2021 | 2.20 | 1.48 | 0.26 |
| NOV. 2021 | 4.75 | 1.95 | 0.25 |
| DEC. 2021 | 7.00 | 4.94 | 2.54 |
| AVG. | 5.37 | 5.72 | 0.71 |
System Diagram
