Super Oxygenation for Collection System Odor Control

With the goal of reducing odors at and around its wastewater treatment plant adjacent to Interstate Highway 10 (I-10) and new development, the El Paso Water Utilities Public Service Board (EPWU, now EPWater) hired CH2M HILL Engineers, Inc., now Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (Jacobs) to study, design, and manage the construction of odor improvements at Northwest Wastewater Treatment Plant, now called John T. Hickerson Water Reclamation Facility (JTH WRF). The project odor study concluded that EPWater pre-purchase and install a Super Oxygenation system at JTH WRF’s influent lift station (LS), the Frontera LS. This Super Oxygenation system has been installed and is operational as of December 2014. This paper provides the background, design and construction considerations, as well as expected and observed performance of the Super Oxygenation system liquid phase treatment system. The Super Oxygenation system, as manufactured by ECO Oxygen Technologies, Inc. (ECO2) operates by pumping a side stream portion of raw sewage from the LS forcemain through a conical shaped oxygen transfer device, known as a Speece Cone, where gaseous oxygen is injected into the top of the cone, allowing for an oxygen transfer efficiency of 90 to 95 percent. The super oxygenated wastewater is then pumped back into the forcemain. The goal of this approach is to increase the dissolved oxygen (DO) in the forcemain to overcome pre-existing dissolved sulfides and the oxygen uptake due to biological conditions in the piping such that the influent to JTH WRF has residual DO and minimal dissolved sulfides for reducing odor impacts.