Fayetteville Technology Wastes No Water in Waste Treatment Facilities (Infrastructure | Winner, Class I)

Fayetteville is celebrating the success of its environmentally sustainable water management system. The new hyper-concentrated dissolved ozone (HyDOZ) system at the Paul R. Noland Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF) is was created by the local water technology company BlueInGreen with disinfection in mind. The system “ozonates” water and wastewater to disinfect treated wastewater and replace the aged ultraviolet disinfection system. The first of its kind, the HyDOZ produces excess dissolved oxygen in the receiving water, and eliminates the need and cost of post aeration. The system also reduces emerging contaminants, specifically human-made, unregulated compounds like pharmaceutical and personal-care products.

The WRRF is one of two wastewater treatment facilities in Fayetteville, and treats an average of six million gallons of wastewater per day. The treated water is returned to the White River, which then flows into the Beaver Reservoir — a drinking-water facility for Northwest Arkansas. The HyDOZ system was created as a safer, more environmentally friendly alternative to using chlorine or UV to disinfect water.

Before permanently installing the system, the city had BlueInGreen develop a pilot HyDOZ system, which was tested for one year. During this pilot period, BlueInGreen engineers worked to collect and analyze samples, determine the required ozone dose and make adjustments to the treatment process. Small amounts of ozone are required for fast disinfection, which made this system ideal for Fayetteville’s large population.

The system also lowered overall costs for the city, as little ozone is required. The treatment also eliminates the costs and safety concerns associated with trucking chemicals on city roads and highways, and removed the need for an aeration process.

With support from the Northwest Arkansas Drinking Water Authority, the Arkansas Department of Health, the Beaver Water District and the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, the HyDOZ installation was completed in February 2016.

This technology wasn’t completely foreign to the city, though. Before the HyDOZ system, BlueInGreen’s first product, the Supersaturated Dissolved Oxygen Injector (SDOX) was tested and utilized in the city of Fayetteville. The SDOX system works similarly to the HyDOZ by providing supersaturated dissolved oxygen to treated water by restricting oxygen loss to the atmosphere. With this system, nearly 100 percent of the oxygen gas fed to the system was dissolved. SDOX was proven to increase the effluent dissolved oxygen by 70 percent of the previous system, and used 75 percent less power. Fayetteville was the first city to invest and install this technology in 2007, and it paid for itself in less than five years with an annual saving of approximately $35 thousand a year.

With ozone’s high potential as an effective chemical disinfectant, it became a clear choice for resolving public and national concerns about quality of drinking water, and quality of water released into streams and rivers from wastewater plants.

The success of an ozone-based process comes as no surprise, as the EPA has conducted several studies, and even encouraged its use in the 1970’s and 1980’s for an alternative to chlorine-based disinfection. However, the high capital costs at the time discouraged cities from implementing this technology, therefore halting its progression.

With the help of BlueInGreen’s advanced technology, this cost has since lowered, and also allows for cuts in other areas, leading to long-term profit.

ADEQ Director Becky Keogh has referred to the system as an “impactful, successful public-private partnership and a clear commitment to the protection of the White River and ultimately the Beaver Lake that goes above and beyond regulatory requirements to further reduce risks to the environment.”