The prestigious ski resort situated in the Orlicke Mountain range in Czech Republic is a 40 bed hotel with in house restaurant. It is a famous tourist attraction during the winter season experiencing a surge in the visitors during peak period reaching up to 110 people every day.
THE PROBLEM
The hotel management had already installed one sewage treatment plant for the treatment of the sewage generated within the premises. However, due to high oil and grease content of the restaurant effluent and due to high hydraulic loading during the peak period, the plant never performed as per their requirement and having serious issues meeting the treatment goals as per stringent EU standards.
THE CHALLENGE
Serious issue of oil and grease present in the sewage even covering entire clarifier during the operation
Due to ski resort , lower temperature combining with the peak flows posing additional burden of achieving results under lower liquid temperatures reducing biological activities of the micro organisms.
THE SOLUTION Levapor IFAS Upgrade
After initial consultation, a pilot testing was conducted at the site to confirm the results. Once results were confirmed, the Aerobic suspended growth reactor was upgraded by adding 15% Levapor carriers converting it in to an IFAS reactor.
THE RESULTS
Due to high FOG content in the inlet wastewater, the plant was facing serious issues in removing FOG from the wastewater. Even the clarifier was also experiencing serious deposits of FOG on its surface during winter peak period.
However after adding Levapor carriers, due to specific properties of the carriers, specific micro-organisms responsible for the degradation of FOG were established within the reactor and resulted in remarkable biodegradation of FOG present in the wastewater. The results were so evident that during the next winter season after addition of Levapor carriers, the deposition of FOG on secondary clarifier surface was eliminated completely.
Floating Sludge During Winter 2011
clarifier after addition of Levapor in 2012
Despite daily fluctuations in the hydraulic as well as organic load during peak winter season, the plant also stabilized remarkable due to presence of highly active biomass on Levapor carrier surface resulting in higher COD reduction and nitrification compared to suspended growth only reactor meeting the treatment goals through-out the winter period operation at lower liquid temperatures.
Benefits of Upgrading to Levapor IFAS Process
Stable operation of the plant under higher loading rates during peak season
Meeting treatment goals consistently
Removal of FOG accumulation on the clarifier surface completely over the period of time