The Westside Regional WRF (City of Daytona Beach, Florida) Utilizes a Supplemental Carbon Source (glycerol) in a Unique Application to Enhance Biological Phosphorous Removal

The Westside Regional WRF is a 56,782 m3/d (15 million gallon per day) (mgd) average annual daily design flow advanced water reclamation facility that is located in Daytona Beach, Florida and discharges a combination of reclaimed water for reuse and treated effluent into the Halifax River. The treatment facility was upgraded in 2000 to include low level nitrogen and phosphorous removal to achieve the advanced water reclamation standard of 5/5/3/1 (5 mg/L BOD, 5 mg/L suspended solids, 3 mg/L total nitrogen and 1 mg/L total phosphorous) monthly average.The facility has historically had difficulty consistently meeting the 1.0 mg/L monthly average total phosphorous NPDES effluent limit. As the result of the difficulty in meeting the effluent phosphorous limit consistently, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) issued a consent order to the City of Daytona Beach Utilities Department in 2008 to conduct a study to evaluate alternatives to meet the effluent phosphorous limits and to make the recommended improvements in order to achieve effluent compliance.In March 2011, as part of a nitrogen removal enhancement project, MicroC2000™ (a glycerol-based carbon source) was added to the 2nd anoxic zone as a supplemental carbon source for denitrification. As a result of the addition of MicroC2000TM it was observed that the effluent phosphorous levels discharged had improved, along with the effluent nitrogen levels, eliminating the need for alum addition.This paper is a case study that focuses on an evaluation of enhanced biological phosphorous removal utilizing a supplemental carbon source (glycerol), through multi-seasonal operating conditions to achieve total phosphorus removal permit compliance.