Winter Wonders: Increasing MBR Capacity in Cold Weather Months Utilizing Operational Changes

Canton Water Reclamation Facility has faced hardships meeting capacity during winter months since beginning operation as an MBR plant. Cold water temperatures encouraged a high foulant concentration in the membrane tanks which prevented filtration at design flows. To resolve this issue, Canton collaborated with Kubota Membrane USA Corporation. Foulants were quantified by tracking sCOD daily 2019 to 2020, and tabulating historical data to develop a trend, relative to water temperature and membrane tank MLSS. Increasing the MLSS target value reduced the sCOD by approximately half in 2020. MLSS and TMP limits were causing operators to limit flow to individual treatment trains during high flow events. Kubota pilot testing validated increasing operational limits from14,000 mg/L to 15,000 mg/L for MLSS and 3.0 psi to 6.0 psi for TMP. During two high flow events in 2020 flows exceeded 80 mgd, and the membranes were able to filter without issue.