Constructed Wetlands Treatment of an Automotive Bedliner Manufacturer's Wastewater

The Durakon Industries facility located in Lapeer, Michigan treats sanitary and process wastewater from its plastic truck bedliner manufacturing process. The wastewater resulting from the extruding and thermoforming operations is low to medium strength. To meet restrictive surface water standards set by the State of Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), Durakon pursued with the State of Michigan to construct a natural wetland treatment system at the site to replace an unlined lagoon system. Following pilot testing with selective vegetation, it was concluded that such a system could achieve treatment objectives when presented with a variable strength wastewater. Based on the pilot tests, a full-scale innovative “First-in-the-State” system for an industry was developed and constructed by Tetra Tech in 2000. The system was expanded in 2006 to incorporate more restrictive phosphorous limits and to comply with a revised NPDES Permit.The featured work will be the subsequent full-scale design, construction, planting and acclimation, start-up and post start-up operation of the natural wastewater treatment system at the Durakon facility.