R&D plant meets wastewater discharge regs with UV disinfection

Wilsonville Power Systems' development plant in Alabama, USA, reports that UV disinfection is still ensuring that it complies with wastewater discharge regulations – four years after commissioning.

The facility is a research and development centre that tests coal-based technologies before they are implemented at power supply facilities. In 2006, the plant employed 200 and produced a wastewater flow of 95 litres per minute. With its size due to double, the facility was required to start disinfecting wastewater, but its wastewater treatment plant was too far away. Wilsonville PSDF went for Berson's OpenLine UV disinfection system, which is based on an open channel disinfection unit using low pressure, high output UV lamps to destroy microorganisms' reproductive abilities. The facility installed the OpenLine system in 2007 as the last item in the plant process, providing final treatment of the water before discharge into a local river.