Application of an Auxiliary Wastewater Treatment Facility to Solve Sanitary Sewer Overflows

The Somerset Raritan Valley Sewerage Authority (SRVSA), a large regional wastewater utility in central New Jersey, discovered a sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) within the conveyance system of one its member communities. During extreme wet-weather conditions, this particular SSO would discharge untreated wastewater diluted with significant inflow and infiltration (I/I) onto the outfield of a baseball field within a municipal park and into a stream corridor that provides a recreational greenway within an urban community.The simple but novel concept of using an auxiliary treatment facility to control and treat overflows was developed, and compared with several more traditional alternatives, including: reduction of I/I, storage and expansion of conveyance and treatment capacity at the main treatment plant. Not only was the auxiliary treatment facility the most environmentally beneficial alternative, it will also cost significantly less than half of any of the other alternatives considered.