Small Flow High Strength Waste Gets “Super-Charged” Treatment With Good Results: A Case Study of the SMART Treat™ System

Since 2000 the Wisconsin Department of Commerce had classified restaurant wastewater as high strength waste, and is required to have advanced treatment prior to soil dispersal. In 2005, design and construction of the onsite treatment system and the restaurant occurred simultaneously in an unsewered area near growing communities. The restaurant opened for business in late July and the wastewater system began to operate in August, 2005.Random samplings from various unit processes occurred over the following 3.5 years. Available data showed organic loading to the primary biological process which averaged 163 % of design, while flow averaged 94 % of design.This study examines a relatively new fixed film technology that had been chosen as the primary biological treatment process. The SMART-Treat™ moving media process had been downsized from larger municipal & industrial applications. The unique Combined Fixed Activated Sludge (CFAS) features designed into the flow path provided hybrid process performance and delivered good quality effluent to downstream processes in overloaded conditions.