The word waste is not typically associated with anything positive (e.g. “haste makes waste” and “wasting the day away”) but waste does not always have to be a bad thing. Not if NPCA member Oldcastle Precast and Algaewheel Technologies, LLC have anything to say about it, that is.
Working together, the two companies are offering an innovative system of precast concrete tanks that use the wastewater purification process to generate biomass that can be used as renewable energy to wastewater treatment plants of all sizes.
The technology was developed by Algaewheel and uses floating wheels powered by air movement to grow algae. The system then uses the natural balance between algae and bacteria to the benefit of the plant.
According to the Algaewheel website “depending on the scale of the system, a wastewater treatment plant utilizing algaewheel technology will realize renewable energy benefits ranging from 50 percent energy savings to production of excess power for sale to the electric power grid.”
The Algaewheel system has been integrated into precast concrete tanks produced by Oldcastle Precast, and is available nationwide. In Reynolds, Ind. (also known as Bio-Town) six, 20,000-gallon tanks were recently installed, with another three slated for phase 2 in the coming years. The precast tanks replaced the “lagoon” system that was in place. By integrating these tanks the plant will be able to generate its own power.
To learn more about how the process works and how it can benefit wastewater treatment systems, visit Algaewheel’s website, or Oldcastle Precast’s page on the system.
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