The City of Neptune Beach, Florida WWTF upgrades their existing treatment process through a low cost retrofit with IFAS media and utilization of a non-flammable supplemental carbon source to meet the TMDL for Low Level Nitrogen Removal for the St. Johns River

The City of Neptune Beach Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF) is a 1.5 million gallon per day (mgd) average annual daily design flow facility that is located in Neptune Beach, Florida and discharges treated effluent into the St. Johns River though the Sherman Point outfall along with the combined effluent of the Atlantic Beach and Jacksonville Beach WWTFs The treatment facility was upgraded in 2011 for low level nitrogen removal to achieve the TMDL limit of 13,408 pounds per year annual mass load or approximately 3 mg/l TN at design flow.The facility has two separate treatment processes. The first is a 0.6 mgd design flow package contact stabilization process with secondary limits that was not upgraded and continues to treat 300,000 to 400,000 gallons per day of the combined Neptune Beach flow. The second and the upgraded facility is an AWT biological nutrient removal treatment process consisting of a four stage suspended growth activated sludge process that includes the following treatment processes: a primary anoxic zone followed by an aeration zone with plastic carrier integrated fixed film activated sludge (IFAS) media and course bubble aeration with internal nitrate recycle, a second anoxic zone with supplemental external carbon addition, reaeration, clarification, effluent disk filtration and disinfection.This project with a total cost of $2.2 million dollars was completed in 2011 with a one year construction period and provided a low cost alternative to this small community to building a new treatment facility or a complete renovation of the existing process to meet the requirement of the TMDL for nitrogen removal.The poster highlights and evaluates the selection and operation of this cost effective process including the IFAS nitrification process along with the non flammable supplemental carbon feed and storage system and automated system process control utilizing online nitrate and dissolved oxygen analyzers for real time analysis and control.The Neptune Beach WWTF is one of the first municipal treatment facilities in Florida to utilize the IFAS process as a retrofitted project that required no new process tank construction to meet the AWT nitrogen removal standards required by the TMDL.