ACWA Amtreat^® Process for Southern Water

ACWA Services (UK) has received a contract to design and build an AMTREAT® high strength ammonia wastewater treatment process, for the Southern Water Sludge Liquor Treatment Centre in Ashford, England. The contract was placed by Black & Veatch Ltd, the main contractor responsible for upgrading the site to full compliance with AMP4
requirements.
“AMTREAT® is basically a purpose-designed, high rate activated sludge process that can be specifically used for treating high strength ammonia wastewaters” explains David Spurr, ACWA’s Business Development Manager. “As legislation on allowable levels of ammonia and total nitrogen in wastewater get even tighter, the increasing amounts of treated sludge liquors diverted to the main water treatment works, often fails the statutory discharge consent.
In these circumstances, the installation of AMTREAT® can provide a cost-effective solution for reducing ammonia and total nitrogen to acceptable levels in sludge-liquors, which, when returned to the water treatment works, will have no detrimental effect on the processes or
final discharge consent.”
“The advantages of such a high rate ammonia treatment process,” says David, “are that the technology and equipment is familiar and easy to operate and control. Due to the significantly higher ammonia loading rates achieved within an AMTREAT® process, it is possible to install the plant on a relatively small footprint, when compared with conventional activated sludge treatment processes. Full nitrification of effluent streams with ammonia concentrations of 3000 mg/l and typical ammonical nitrogen removal rates in excess of 97% are achievable.”