The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago in partnership with Ostara
OVERVIEW
Setting the bar for water stewardship and recovery for reuse
The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) in partnership with Ostara, opened the world’s largest nutrient recovery facility.
Recovering nutrients from where they shouldn’t be – in the water, and converting them into an eco-friendly fertilizer – the facility helps protect the Chicago/Calumet River system and the Mississippi River basin from an overabundance of nutrients. Ostara’s process optimizes operational efficiency and provides revenue from the sale of the high-value phosphorus fertilizer recovered.
THE SITUATION
Nutrient pollution is one of the greatest environmental issues of today
In the form of fertilizer, phosphorus is necessary to produce the food needed to sustain growing populations, but in excess it can cause algae to grow and bloom in waterways resulting in toxic conditions that destroy aquatic life and limit recreational enjoyment of lakes and rivers.
Unchecked, urban water treatment facilities can be a major contributor to nutrient pollution, and within the facilities, nutrient overload can be detrimental to pipes, pumps and valves, restricting flow and causing costly operational challenges.
THE CHALLENGE
A closed-loop and cost-effective phosphorus management strategy.
Designed to treat up to 1.44 billion gallons of water each day and serving over 4.5 million residents, the Stickney Water Reclamation Plant (WRP) is the largest water reclamation plant in the world. With billions of gallons of water being treated daily, the MWRD was facing stringent regulatory limits affecting effluent discharge permits in addition to operational issues caused by an accumulation of struvite.
The MWRD pro-actively sought a closed-loop and cost-effective phosphorus management strategy. As a global leader in nutrient recovery, Ostara provided the MWRD with a solution to their challenges.
THE SOLUTION
Addressing the MWRD’s operational and environmental challenges, Ostara’s Pearl® nutrient recovery technology has the ability to:
- Help exceed environmental regulations to meet a 1.0mg/L limit for total phosphorus in effluent
- Cost-effectively recover excess phosphorus for sustainable reuse
- Improve plant efficiencies
- Reduce costly chemical dependencies
Ostara’s Pearl® Process is a Closed-loop Solution
Nutrients such as phosphorus are recovered from wastewater and transformed into a high-value fertilizer that generates revenues for wastewater treatment facilities while helping meet environmental regulations and enhancing operational efficiency.
Nutrient recovery at the Stickney WRP meets the MWRD’s four key performance indicators: Manage Risk, Return on Investment, Reduce Effluent Phosphorus, and Maximize Value.
The MWRD has installed three of Ostara’s Pearl 10K reactors, with an installed production capacity of up to 9000 tons of Crystal Green per year. The District will receive revenue for every ton of fertilizer it produces. The Pearl process has the capability to recover up to 85 percent of the phosphorus from wastewater streams before they accumulate as struvite in pipes and equipment.
THE BENEFITS
The MWRD’s nutrient recovery facility will result in an annual cost savings in chemicals, solid waste disposal, maintenance and power.
Following the successful commercial start-up of this facility, the MWRD plans to implement WASSTRIP® — a process that turbo-charges the nutrient recovery process and increases the amount of phosphorus recovered by more than 60 percent for added operational and revenue generating benefits.
Read the full case study here.