Meeting Greenhouse Gas Goals Through Efficient Aeration Operation

The City of Fort Collins Utilities recently upgraded the aeration system on the north process trains of the Drake Water Reclamation Facility (DWRF). The improvements included a conversion to an automated aeration control system, which improved process stability and also contributed to energy savings. It also included the conversion of the existing multi-stage blower system to a hybrid blower arrangement that includs 2 of the existing multi-stage blowers with 2 new single-stage direct drive blowers. These improvements resulted in a 25% reduction in energy usage at DWRF, directly resulting in 2,000 metric ton of CO2 equivalents per year drop in greenhouse gas emissions. This proves that investments in a wastewater reclamation facility (WRF) can be a significant contribution to meeting the City's overall greenhouse gas goals for reducing both greenhouse gas production and energy usage by 20% by the year 2020.