The Results The real-time monitoring data showed that the on-off operating strategy was able to meet target compliance concentrations intermittently, but it was a balancing act. During periods in which ammounium concentrations were lowest, nitrate concentrations were higher, indicating that more time was required for denitrification. If insufficient time was provided for nitrification, ammonium would spike and nitrate would be lower. The online monitoring demonstrated clearly and quickly that meeting the new requirements was going to require more than a change in operating strategy. The next step for the county was to design and build anoxic zones to provide a more reliable and consistent solution for the denitrification process. Once the renovations were complete and the anoxic zones were integrated into the plant flow, the CAU determined that both the Tartan Fields and Scioto Reserve facilities had seen a TIN level of 10 mg/L, well within Ohio EPA compliance per the new guidelines. What the plant operators did not expect to find were the other efficiencies gained with the IQSN. “EPA compliance states that we need to monitor certain criteria and stay within certain parameters with those criteria, as they apply to effluent discharge,” said Mark Chandler, operations superintendent for Delaware County. “Being able to obtain real- time data was the first step to meeting compliance, but it also gave us the ability to analyze trends in plant activity. These trend data have enabled us to progress from simple monitoring and data collection to facilitate actual control of the operation to optimize efficiency. Coming full circle with it has been a really impressive evolution of what we’re able to do with our process. And we can fine-tune the outcome on a daily, almost hourly, basis.”
VARiON probe
Reference electrode
Temperature Sensor
Inside the Scioto Reserve facility
Measurement and compensation electrodes
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IQ SensorNet
YSI.com/ww
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