There are 16,000 municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the United States, according to a Department of Homeland Security analysis of the water and wastewater industry. In addition, there are 18,000 other wastewater treatment plants in Europe, according to EurEau. If we include this data on sewage treatment plants in developed countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, China, etc., the estimated number of sewage treatment plants in the world exceeds the 50,000, including waste water treatment Indonesia. From there, we can optimize wastewater management, increase efficiency and reduce costs with digital solutions.
Modern waste water treatment problems
Many modern sewage treatment plant operators use a reactive approach to wastewater treatment, as the maturity of digital technology for wastewater treatment and performance optimization begins with the wastewater treatment phase (see Figure 1). That is, the operation of the wastewater treatment plant is based on reactive data analysis. The sensors provide data to operators who use this data to analyze the current state of the plant and, in some cases, create new standard scenarios. However, this can mean that many wastewater treatment plants are not being used optimally in terms of treatment and energy efficiency, as the data is not necessarily used for practical conclusions in real time.
In addition, the increased amount of wastewater and more stringent wastewater requirements often lead to inadequate cleaning capabilities. The classic approach to solving this problem is to increase the capacity of the treatment plant by adding new treatment tanks. However, these are not only more expensive and take up more space, they are also more likely to result in higher power consumption.
Process optimization has many advantages
The best solution is to optimize the operation and process of the existing waste water treatment plant. This has three advantages:
Capacity Building
Reduction of pollutant emissions in the water supply and
Reduce energy and chemical consumption
In addition, the optimized sewage treatment plant is more stable and reliable when used under changing conditions, such as. Changes in flow rate and composition and operating meteorological conditions.
Use the power of digital solutions to simplify operations
Modern wastewater treatment plants are automated with a SCADA system (supervisory control and data acquisition) and are generally operated through fixed points defined by the operator. Local control loops such as the dissipation regulator and the return sludge speed regulator ensure that the setpoint is reached. Using many possible digital solutions, such as digital simulation of twins, efficiency can be further increased by combining data with a simulator to simulate wastewater treatment processes. The efficient engine allows you to simulate and test complex control scenarios while performing advanced experiments. Using a software simulation platform for advanced control and automated reporting of wastewater treatment processes, operators can be equipped with a real-time control panel (RTC) and a fully open and customizable monitoring panel. This allows treatment plant operators to optimize treatment processes and tailor solutions for system development.
The next step
Full automation of wastewater treatment can be the next step by using automated point control to optimize the process. DHI's digital wastewater treatment solutions optimize processes by monitoring processes in real time and automatically correcting them. This ensures efficient and continuous operation of the sewage treatment plant under different conditions.
Source: https://blog.dhigroup.com/2020/04/02/the-one-tip-for-an-efficient-wastewater-treatment-plant-go-digital/