Columbia Ave. Pump Station
Main pumping station – lifts wastewater in to plant for treatment.
Grit Removal
Removal of sand, gravel, and inorganic materials that may harm equipment.
Pre-Aeration
Wastewater is passed through these tanks and air is added to reduce odors and keep solids in suspension.
Primary Treatment
The wastewater flows into the primary clarifiers and speed of water is reduced to promote the settling of any solid waste. Lighter material, grease, oils, and fats are skimmed from the surface of the water.
Aeration Tanks
An aerobic process where bacteria consume the remaining organic waste.
Final Settling Tanks
Wastewater from aeration tanks enters the clarifiers where the solids and organics are seperated from the water. Solids are returned to the aerations tanks.
Tertiary
This is a polishing process, the water from the secondary clarifiers is lifted by five screw type pumps to eight separate duel cell multi media filters where any remaining solids are removed.
Chlorine Contact Tank
The water exiting the filters, enters the contact tank for disinfection with chlorine to remove remaining pathogens, then treated with sulfur dioxide to remove the chlorine before the water is discharged to the Grand Calumet River.
DAF Building
A portion of the solids from the secondary clarifiers is sent to this process for thickening and further treatment. This is done to maintain a balance in the secondary treatment process.
Sludge Thickeners
All of the solids removed from the primary treatment process are sent here for further thickening and mixing with the DAF solids.
Anaerobic Digesters
The solids mixture (primary & secondary) are pumped into the digesters to breakdown the solids further. The solids remain in this process for approximately 35 to 40 days. Methane gas is produced from this process and used to power equipment throughout the plant.
Gas Storage Sphere
Methane gas produced in the sludge digestion process is stored in this sphere for use at a later time.
Dewatering
Solids from the anaerobic digester process are sent here to be pressed into a solid mass suitable for use on farmland as fertilizer.
Contact
Jeff Massey, Superintendent of Wastewater Treatment
9-853-6413, Ext. 524