The main goal of water treatment technologies is to preserve the surrounding environment. Typically, facilities have been engineered with best available technology and often energy intensive approaches that incur high costs to meet the requirements of the Clean Water Act and EPA mandates. Today, a new range of treatment technologies are available for achieving higher standards of treatment and lower impacts from effluents on receiving waters.
There are a number of green technologies that we have used in designing new wastewater treatment facilities.
Constructed Wetlands – Natural wetlands act as biofilter, removing sediments and pollutants such as heavy metals and nutrients from the water, and constructed wetlands can be designed to emulate these features.
Aerated Lagoons – An aerated lagoon or aerated basin is a holding and/or treatment pond provided with supplemental aeration to promote the biological oxidation of wastewater components.
Aquatic Phytoremediation – Phytoremediation is the use of plants to remove contaminants from soils and waters. Select aquatic plants can be used as hyperaccumulators to absorb nitrogen and phosphorus in retention ponds. Emergent wetland plants can be used to minimize direct runoff into ponds and prevent growth of unwanted aquatic vegetation and algae. This can extend the life expectancy of a pond and enhance water quality.
Micro-Algae Treatment Components – We are developing new ways of utilizing the diverse capabilities of plankton communities to assimilate and break down aquatic pollutants. Not only are we investigating new ways of cleaning up water pollutants but also the potential of producing renewable energy sources as biofuels.
Parking Lot and Car Wash Run-Off Treatment – We can develop methods to ensure that the runoff from your parking lot or car wash can be properly treated on-site and avoid costly sewage treatment or stormwater fees.
