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The
History of the Wilson Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant
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The
former plant in operation |
 The
Packed Biological Reactor
Required to be installed as a part of the major
rebuild of the plant, this device never worked to the design
specifications according to the City operators. The idea
was to remove the organics from the wastewater. Sand, grease
and other items helped to prevent the tower from working
properly. |
 Secondary
Clarifier
One of two on the site, the first added as a part
of the major rebuild. The concept was to separate the sludge
from the wastewater.
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 Effluent
Treatment
This is the entry to the Chlorine Contact
Chamber where the last steps were taken in the
treatment chain. Here chlorine was added
to disinfect the wastewater.
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 Sludge
Treatment Area
In the foreground is the Gravity Thickener.
The rear round tank was the Aerobic Digester.
In the rear, are the Sludge Drying Beds where
the sludge was placed to dewater and prepare for burial
or spreading on fields.
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The City of Jacksonville attempted many modifications in the effort to comply with strengthened regulations to but eventually they discontinued the use of the plant. These ever changing regulations helped to convince
the City Council that building a new plant – one that would
not discharge into the River or Wilson Bay.
Why it failed.
There were several contributing causes to the failure of the plant in addition
to the ever tougher discharge requirements. The chief component of failure was the biotower, technically called the Packed Biological Reactor. The concept was sound and biofilters are used to treat many types of organic wasted today, but the application in a municipal wastewater treatment facility was a failure.
A biofilter is
a biological reactor where polluted substances – such
as water or air – can be biologically treated.
The principle of a biofilter is as follows: polluted water
is passed through a packed bed of compost, wood chips,
activated carbon, etc. or a mixture of these ingredients
with surface space for bacteria. At the surface of the
packing, pollutant degrading microorganisms are present,
and degrade the pollutants. |
How was it supposed to work?
After all the other treatments to separate out the watery parts of wastewater
from the larger solids, the water was then trickled over a three story tower
packed with black plastic cores. The cores were designed to allow bacteria
to grow on them. The bacteria were selected based on their ability to break
down the organic material in the wastewater. The concept was that the bacteria
would consume all the organics in the water, leaving it clear and clean.
But it did not work in a practical application.
Why? People flush much more down the drains
than just human waste. Grease, sand and chemicals did not allow
the bacteria to work. Instead, the grease clogged parts of the
tower, and allowed too much flow over others. The bacteria could not handle all the waste that was pumped in, and
did little to clean the wastewater. The design of the tower
did not provide for efficient cleaning and there was no way to
stop treating wastewater in order to fix the problem.
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