The Relocatable Wastewater Treatment Plant (RWWTP) is designed to treat the wastewater produced by the 250 man Relocatable Temporary Camp (RTC). The system is capable of treating up to 42 m³/day normal flows and up to 75 m³/day peak flow. The system is contained in of five 8’ X 8’ 6” X 20’ sea containers, three open top and two closed top. It is comprised of the equalization tank located in container IC-01, the bioreactor located in containers IC-02 and IC-03, the process container IC-04 and the dewatering container IC-05. Hoses and electrical cables make the connections between the containers. The power for the system is provide by the generators that are part of the RTC.

In summary, wastewater from the camp will be collected and diverted to an equalization tank located in Container IC-01. This equalization tank (TK-76) will be used as a buffer capacity (24 m³) to receive black and grey water from the camp. The tank will be equipped with air grid at the bottom to continuously aerate the raw wastewater. A nozzle at the bottom of the tank will be connected to the suction of the grinder pump (P-76) and will be equipped with a filter to supply screened raw wastewater to the plant. Level indicators in the tank will control the grinder pump operation.

The size of the equalization tank is critical to ensure effective operation of the system during peak flow conditions. As specified, during peak flows the unit will be fed with 10 m³/hr over a three-hour period. The GE WWTP will treat waste at 2.9 m³/hr. Therefore, sufficient equalization volume exists in the GE design to permit effective, uninterrupted operation. Also, it is important to note that aeration of the tank is crucial to prevent significant anaerobic activity and enhance the mixing process in the tank.

Grinder pump P-76 will discharge the raw water to the anoxic tank for denitrification. Also, a mixture of wastewater (heated when required) and re-circulated sludge from the membrane tank will be introduced to the anoxic tank TK-74. Wastewater will overflow from the anoxic tank to aerobic tank TK-73B. The overflow from TK-73B will be directed to the second aeration tank TK-73A. An aeration grid will be installed at the bottom of TK-73A/B and spray nozzles to inject defoamer (as required) will be installed just above the liquid level. An air blower, B-87A will provide supplemental aeration to TK-73A/B. Sufficient volume in TK-73A/B exists to achieve the correct Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) for effective biodegradation of the wastewater.

Under cold weather conditions (raw water at 2^oC), GE has developed a patented technique to ensure effective removal of the toxic ammonia compounds. For this process, it is required to heat the influent water to 6-8^oC to enable optimal ammonia removal. The heating will be achieved by mixing the cold stream with heated permeate produced from the ZeeWeed membranes. Approximately 2-3 gpm of permeated water will be warmed by an electrical heater to 25-30^oC and will be mixed with the cold raw water at the entrance to the anoxic tank. This process uses minimal power and avoids the use of immersion heaters in the wastewater tanks, which will require significant electrical power and have a tendency to scale.

The mixed liquor from TK-73A is transferred by re-circulation pump P-34 to the ZeeWeed tank (membrane compartment) (TK-34) where clean water passes through the membranes and all the bacteria and inert solids overflow with excess mixed liquor back into the anoxic tank. Excess biosolids that have accumulated are periodically removed (wasted) from the membrane tank for disposal either via a discharge hose by the re-circulation pump, or by overflow to the dewatering system (flocculation tank TK-22).

ZeeWeed is an ultrafiltration-class hollow fibre membrane that works in an outside-in flow pattern. The membrane fibres are connected to headers at the top and bottom of a frame to form a membrane element. Several thousand fibres are contained in a single element. Each element has a surface area of 220 ft².

Suction pressure applied to the top of the ZeeWeed element headers by the permeate pump (P-35) causes water to be drawn perpendicularly to the membrane surface. Solid particles larger than the membrane pore size (0.04-micron) are rejected at the membrane surface while clean water is allowed to pass through the membranes.

ZeeWeed membranes are self-cleaned in several ways during operation. First, they are scoured with air that is fed to the bottom header by the membrane blower (B-87B) and rises up along the surface of the membranes. The motion of the air movement acts to scour the membrane fibers slightly allowing material that may have adhered to slough off. Secondly, the membranes are cleaned from the inside out by sending clean effluent from the backpulse tank (TK-88) back through the membrane under positive pressure for 30-second duration every 10-15 minutes. Lastly, GE recommends periodic (3-4 times a week) maintenance cleaning with a mild hypochlorite solution, which is backpulsed through the membranes and soaked for ~1 hour. These patented automatic cleaning methods enable the membranes to remain in service for extended periods between more mild membrane cleanings.

Treated effluent passes through a UV disinfection unit (UV-18) for final disinfection prior to reuse or discharge. This method is used in lieu of chlorine disinfection because it is more cost effective and more environmentally friendly. Sodium hypochlorite and sodium bisulfite will be used for chlorination/dechlorination of the effluent as a back up system to the UV unit.