INDUSTRIAL BIOTREATMENT PLANT CAPACITY EXPANSION AND UPGRADING THROUGH APPLICATION OF MEMBRANE BIOMASS – EFFLUENT SEPARATION

The FIS division of Nestle S.A. is engaged in the manufacturing of food ingredients at a site in New Milford, CT adjacent to the Housatonic River. A treatment plant located at the site handles industrial wastewaters from the FIS manufacturing plant and from a Nestle research and development (R&D) facility. In 1993/94, the plant was modified and upgraded to achieve nitrogen control. In 1998, the conventional suspended growth treatment plant was converted to the membrane biological reactor (MBR) process configuration. In the fall of 1999 a performance evaluation of the modified plant was completed. The evaluation results demonstrated that the MBR process configuration was capable of achieving equal or better carbonaceous and nitrogen removal when compared to the conventional suspended growth system despite operating at a COD volumetric loading 5 times greater.