Problem: Geraldine, Alabama, needed a low-maintenance and expandable wastewater treatment system to treat all of its domestic waste to regulatory limits, allow for drip dispersal and handle flow fluctuations to retain consistent treatment ensuring no drip headworks clogging or excess dispersal field biomat development. 

Solution: An ECOPOD Series ATU with a drip dispersal field from Infiltrator Water Technologies was selected for the 60,000 gpd system. The system reduces levels of nitrogen, BOD and TSS. It utilizes a stable and reliable fixed-film process to treat incoming wastewater from approximately 300 mg/L BOD/TSS loading down to the specified 30/30 effluent limit requirement. A STEP system at each home moves influent to the ECOPOD treatment system, which includes a flow equalization tank with duplex alternating pumps, four E1600 ECOPOD units installed in parallel, and a dosing chamber with duplex alternating pumps that provide controlled dispersal field dosing. Oxygen pumped into the system enables bacteria to thrive in greater numbers than would occur naturally speeding sewage breakdown for safe release into the environment. The entire intra-tank bioreactor treatment system is buried in a cast-in-place concrete tank, where both nitrification and denitrification occur.

Result: The system was designed with growth capabilities in mind. As the town expands, the easy, cost-effective addition of extra trains will keep wastewater treatment capacity in line with that growth. 800-221-4436; www.infiltratorwater.com