UPGRADE OF AN INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX'S WWT TO 21st CENTURY STANDARDS USING SBR TECHNOLOGY

This paper describes a case history of a major wastewater treatment (WWT) upgrade that was recently completed at the DuPont site in Manati, Puerto Rico. This project replaced a nearly 30 year-old surface impoundment system with state-of-the-art sequencing batch reactor (SBR) technology. The new system meets all DuPont environmental and design best practices in addition to current and foreseeable future regulatory and plant production requirements. All site businesses (crop protection products, electronic materials and pharmaceuticals) had increased production and were planning future expansions. The capacity of the aerated lagoon was limiting site growth. Compliance with pretreatment standards for the site discharge to the regional sewer was becoming increasingly difficult. In addition, two of the manufacturing plants desired to internalize wastewater that was being disposed offsite. Regulatory requirements and corporate groundwater protection guidelines prevented some of these waste streams from being handled in the former surface impoundment system. Treatability studies were completed for the technology selection and design of the new treatment system. This paper presents the results of those studies and compares them to the full-scale performance. Finally, components of the upgraded system are depicted along with challenges of managing wastewater from three diverse and growing manufacturing plants. This wastewater treatment upgrade project is an excellent example of maintaining sustainable development of a multi-business industrial complex.