Pooler Wastewater Treatment Plant Gets Upgrade

• February 7, 2016

Pooler, Georgia – The first phase of this project consisted of a new 2.5 MGD hollow fiber (GE ZeeWeed) membrane bioreactor (MBR) plant constructed on a very small tract of land next to an existing 0.98 MGD aerated lagoon facility.  The second phase of this project consists of an expansion from 2.5 to 3.3 MGD of the Pooler membrane bioreactor (MBR) plant.  This project is being designed to increase the hydraulic capacity of the membranes to 3.3 MGD using portions of the GE LEAP technology and other critical elements to the operation of the facility.  The Pooler MBR Plant expansion includes replacement of the existing membranes with the new generation of ZeeWeed membranes, installation of baffle walls in MBR tanks, modifications of aeration basin configuration for biological nutrient removal, chemical addition for phosphorous removal, and replacement of fine band screens with rotary drum screens, equalization pumping modifications and wet weather storage pond pump station.

The nearly $5 million project is covered by state funds and includes new pumps, an updated filtration system, and – believe it or not – something called a “sludge digester.”

“We sit here and we have to plan for growth, and Pooler is seeing a lot of it. So that’s the whole reason why we’re having quite a bit more waste water come to the plant,” said Hussey Gay Bell CEO Holmes Bell. “If we did not have this high technology that we have right now, we would be directly discharging into the canal. Pooler would get zero benefit from it,” said Bell.

The plant’s upgrade will allow it to handle an additional one million gallons of waste water per day. The city’s growing so fast, they’ve already started planning for a second expansion.

WTOC has the full story: http://www.wtoc.com/clip/12194459/pooler-growth-stop-lights-waste-water-plant-get-upgrade