Implementation and Start-up of a High Temperature Primary Effluent Denitrification Treatment System to Reduce Effluent Total Nitrogen at the Hopewell Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility

In November 2002, the Hopewell Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility (HRWTF), a 50 million gallon per day (MGD) largely industrial POTW, started-up a new denitrification treatment system to reduce effluent nitrogen discharged from the facility to a tributary of the nutrient-sensitive Chesapeake Bay. The denitrification treatment system was implemented voluntarily under the Chesapeake Bay Nutrient Reduction Program, as part of a phased nitrogen reduction implementation plan adopted by the HRWTF. It is anticipated that this system will provide up to a 40-percent reduction of total nitrogen discharged at a cost of 0.30 / lb total nitrogen removed. This paper describes how bench and pilot-scale studies were utilized to develop design criteria for the system, explains the modifications made to the existing treatment facility to implement the system, and reports initial full-scale performance results obtained since start-up of the new denitrification treatment system.