Testing, Design and Full-Scale Operation of the First Installed Pile Cloth Media Disk Filters for Combined Tertiary and Wet Weather Treatment

During design of its combined sewer overflow (CSO) treatment system the City of Rushville, Indiana was interested in exploring new technologies that showed the potential to reduce the cost of eliminating CSO discharges. The City accepted a proposal from Aqua-Aerobics Systems, Inc. in early 2015 to pilot test the AquaPrime® Cloth Media Filter (CMF) with a nominal five (5)-micron filter opening size. An automated pilot test system was installed at the Rushville Wastewater Treatment Plant and testing was conducted for five (5) rain events during which CSO discharges occurred. The results of this pilot testing were submitted to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) and acceptance was given by IDEM to prepare a design utilizing the cloth media filters for both secondary effluent and CSO discharge treatment. This manuscript will review the results of the pilot testing plus the full scale performance after construction and startup of the facility.