Rebuild and Retrofit Breathes New Life into 25-year-old Biolac® System

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL (April 28, 2014) - Parkson prides itself on providing reliable service for the lifetime of its products, even for some of its longest running installations such as Biolac® activated sludge systems.

So when the operator of a Biolac® System in southeastern Alabama contacted Parkson to help improve the performance of its 25-year-old system, the company’s engineers did not hesitate to provide assistance.

 A Parkson team visited the 0.75 MGD plant and worked with the operator to understand issues causing the plant to suffer from performance issues resulting from aging equipment.

 “The dissolved oxygen in my plant was always changing and it was about to put my plant in violation of my effluent D.O.,” said Dale Lucas, manager of the plant in Columbiana, AL. “I knew I had to do something.”

While the city considered a bid to alternate technologies to solve its problems, Parkson offered its Rebuild and Retrofit program to bring the plant’s Biolac® back up and running at the highest standards. In the end, the city agreed that the Parkson rebuild process was the most cost-effective and environmentally-sound solution.

 “The materials and equipment have changed considerably over the years, but the underlying process remains unchanged,” said Chuck Morgan, product manager for the Biolac® System. “The Biolac® System’s long sludge age process is one of the most consistent and reliable processes available and is capable of delivering some of the highest quality effluent standards in the industry.

In a span of just 10 days, a Parkson field technician oversaw the replacement of all the in-basin aeration equipment, resulting in no downtime to the operations in Columbiana.

 The new aeration equipment consisted of BioFlex floating HDPE pipe, which has a longer life and better articulation. Also, new BioFuser® diffusers were installed, operating at higher efficiency than the previous panels and providing for future expansion if needed.

 “We were pleased with the knowledge of the Parkson field technician and couldn’t have done this without his expertise,” said Lucas.

Once the new equipment was installed, Parkson engineers went one step further, by performing an in-depth review of the existing air diffusers. They discovered a new layout that would dramatically improve air distribution and mixing in the basin. 

As a result of the rebuild, the Columbiana plant has seen dramatic improvements in the performance of its Biolac® activated sludge system. Overall, D.O. levels have increased more than 700%, which has helped reduce ammonia concentrations down to non-detectable levels. At the same time, the enhancements helped the plant slash costs by 40% because the new aeration equipment is so much more efficient that operators can run one blower at night, instead of two.

 “We are very pleased with the improved performance of our Biolac® system and are glad we did this rebuild,” said Lucas.

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