Digestivore™ Sidestream Treatment System

The Digestivore™ system treats both the WAS coming from the secondary clarifiers as well as the filtrate coming from the dewatering equipment.  The Digestivore system utilizes membranes to thicken the WAS to a suitable concentration while using the microbial population within the WAS to convert the ammonia in the filtrate stream into nitrate.  This conversion is important for two reasons.  First, in the typical WWTP process flow, the filtrate with its high ammonia concentration would be sent back to the front of the plant.  This ammonia load can have significant impacts on the performance of the aeration basin and can limit a wastewater treatment plants ability to meet permit requirements.  By converting the ammonia to nitrate, the Digestivore system removes this load from the aeration basin allowing the plant to treat nitrogen more effectively.  This feature will be a critical point for those plants that are in areas with tight nitrogen limits in their permits.  Secondly, nitrate is an effective chemical for odor control.  By sending a permeate stream rich in nitrate to the headworks of the plant, the Digestivore technology will lower or eliminate the amount of chemicals the plant needs to purchase for odor control. 

Benefits of Biological Treatment:

• Well understood reactions for nitrification and denitrification
• No proprietary chemicals to purchase year after year
• Readily available feedstock in the Waste Activated Sludge
• Flexible design criteria to help meet a variety of treatment needs

Benefits of Membrane Thickening:

• Eliminates the need for a thickener building
• No start up, shutdown or clean up time for operations
• No need for polymer
• Can be retrofit into existing tanks