The deal follows the announcement in September that Severn Trent Water’s sewage treatment works in Derby had become one of the first plants in Europe to pilot the technology.
The Nansemond Wastewater Treatment Plant, which provides wastewater services for residents near Chesapeake Bay, is expected to become fully operational in the first quarter of 2010. Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD), which owns and operates the Nansemond plant, will have an environmental and cost-effective solution to ensure unwanted polluting nutrients are removed from the plant’s wastewater stream.
The discharge of nutrients into Chesapeake Bay causes algae blooms that choke surrounding marine life and upset the natural ecosystem, identified by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation as one of the most serious problems affecting the Bay.
Ostara said wastewater treatment systems typically have major pipe clogging problems. They separate sewage sludge solids from liquids and while treated solids can be recycled as soil amendments, the liquids are usually reprocessed back through the system. In addition to clogging pipes, this also adds significant cost to the system, consuming up to 25% of the system’s capacity.
Bill Balzer, manager of the treatment plant, said: “The exciting thing about this partnership is that we are implementing a green, sustainable technology that is recovering a reusable resource – phosphorus – and creating a marketable product. It’s a cost-neutral project that will help us solve our nutrient challenges with an environmental benefit.”
Ostara’s other US contracts comprise constructing Nutrient Recycling Facilities at the York Wastewater Treatment Plant for the City of York, Pennsylvania and at the Durham Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant in Oregon.