Sometimes One Can Learn As Much From Failure As Success: Camden County's New 50 Dry Ton Per Day Biosolids Handling Facility — A Second Chance To Get Things Right!

While it has been said that “success has many fathers, while failure is an orphan”, sometimes valuable lessons can be learned from failures. The Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority (CCMUA), operators of an 80 million gallon per day (MGD) wastewater treatment plant in Camden, NJ, spent $65 million on an in-vessel sludge composting facility which operated only 5 years and was an unqualified failure for many reasons. However, the lessons learned from that failure planted the seeds for its successor, a new 50 dry ton per day biosolids drying facility. The new biosolids drying facility was constructed at less than half the cost of its predecessor and is operating successfully, resulting in reduced biosolids handling costs for the CCMUA and also significantly reduced potential for odors for the neighboring community.This paper will describe the original in-vessel sludge composting facility and the reasons for its failure. Then, it will also describe the lessons learned from that failure and how they were incorporated into the planning, design, construction and operation of the new sludge drying facility.