Greenfield Startup of the Broad Run Water Reclamation Facility

The Broad Run WRF is a new 11 mgd (41,600 m3/day) water reclamation facility in Loudoun County, Virginia, and one of the largest membrane bioreactor (MBR) plants in the United States. Results from the first full year of operation show that the combination of MBR, and activated carbon contactors produced an effluent with very low nutrient concentrations, including 12-month averages of less than 0.05 mg/L of total phosphorus (TP), a total nitrogen (TN) of 3.2 mg/L without supplemental methanol addition, less than 5 mg/L of chemical oxygen demand (COD), and less than 0.5 mg/L of total Kjehldahl nitrogen (TKN). Thickening of WAS to 4% solids in centrifuges is achieved without polymer. However, dewatering of the biosolids, which include anaerobically digested primary sludge, and WAS with a high concentration of alum solids, requires greater doses of polymer than initially expected to produce a cake with 21% solids.