Startup of the First Commercial Phosphorus Recycling Facility in the US at Durham AWWTP

The Durham Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant (AWWTP) has to meet a monthly median of 0.10 mg/L effluent total phosphorus (TP) limit during the six month summer season. In April 2009, Durham AWWTP commissioned the first commercial phosphorus recovery facility in the United States. After two months of continuous operation, the P-recovery facility is removing 83% of soluble PO4-P from the sludge dewatering centrate while recovering 20% of the plant influent phosphorus load, an average of 1.1 tons per day. The first shipment of 11 tons of the recovered slow-release product has been sold in June to British Columbia Ministry of Environment.The reduction of phosphorus in the plant has reduced the phosphorus inventory in the main biological nutrient removal (BNR) system. After only a relatively short time of continuous operation, the dependency of the BNR plant on P-recovery performance has become evident. The biological phosphorus removal process has quickly adapted to the lower BNR influent phosphorus load.