A Roadmap to Energy Self-Sufficiency for U.S. Wastewater Treatment Plants

With increasing operating costs and concerns regarding climate change, most wastewater treatment facilities are under pressure to reduce the net energy used to treat a gallon of wastewater. The ultimate goal would be to reduce the net energy use to the point that the wastewater plant actually “breaks even” on energy use, by a combination of more efficient operations and production of energy via digestion and power generation. This paper presents a “roadmap” showing how a wastewater treatment plant can pursue the goal of energy selfsufficiency via a combination of alternative philosophical approaches and innovations.