City of Columbus Biosolids Management Master Planning

The City of Columbus (City) is preparing an update of their Solids Treatment and Disposal Master Plan. Historically, Solids Master Plans at the City can take a considerable amount of time to be drafted due to differing opinions and revisions of analyses. Past Solids Master Plans have also been focused mainly on costs and operabilities of alternatives. This time around, the City has created a different approach for the Plan. First, the City has decided to assemble a diverse project team and solicit input from numerous sources throughout the process. The goal is to cast a wider net in gathering ideas for biosolids handling alternatives. Second, the City has decided to expand this analysis to include energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions of alternatives, as well as their costs. This is being done in response to growing national concerns over carbon emissions. To this end, the City has joined with The Ohio State University Center for Resilience to utilize a material flow model, EcoFlow™. This model, originally developed for industrial applications, will be able to identify and quantify scenarios for minimizing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, energy, and cost, both for the existing system and for proposed alternatives. The goal of this overall approach is to recommend a set of achievable, innovative alternatives that address the financial and environmental goals of the City in its Solids Treatment and Disposal Master Plan.