Weighing the Options: A Comprehensive Approach to Long-Term Biosolids Management

The Cape May County Municipal Utility Authority (CMCMUA) owns and operates four (4) regional Wastewater Treatment Facilities: (1) Ocean City Wastewater Treatment Facility (OCWTF), (2) Cape May Wastewater Treatment Facility (CMWTF), (3) Seven Mile Beach/Middle Region Wastewater Treatment Facility (SMMWTF), and (4) Wildwood/Lower Region Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWLWTF).Adjacent to the SMMWTF, the CMCMUA owns a regional sludge composting facility (SCF), which provided centralized biosolids processing, until a fire in late 2015 rendered a portion of the facility inoperable. Even prior to the fire, the SCF was approaching the end of its useful life and required significant investment in improvements and maintenance. The existing SCF process also results in odor generation which impacts the surrounding community and visitors, especially during the summer months. As such, the CMCMUA embarked on development of a Long Term Sustainable Biosolids Master Plan (Plan) for management of the solids generated at all four WTFs capable of satisfying the following goals:Long term sustainability;Safe and reliable operation;Public acceptance;Acceptable life cycle cost;Green energy technology; and,Recoverable energy efficiency.With project stakeholder engagement, a multi-dimensional tool was developed to weigh selected criteria for multiple biosolids management alternatives against one another. The key elements of this manuscript include:An introduction to the biosolids management “world of options;”The selection of criteria and associated weighting; and,Development of a multi-dimensional tool for biosolids management option rankings.