As wastewater quality regulations continually grow more stringent, analytical instrumentation is increasingly relied upon to help make everyday process decisions. It’s quickly becoming the eyes and ears of treatment for both operators and leadership.
For all the benefits technology can provide, one of the most impactful challenges it presents is operational adaptability. Does it work when and where you need it?
Now part of Badger Meter, s::can provides a system to effectively control blowers using ammonia-based dissolved oxygen (DO) control by measuring key parameters: NH4-N, pH, and DO. It provides the visibility and control that wastewater operators need, and provides an adaptable system that can be moved to different stations throughout a plant without having to install conduits for power and data communications.
When it comes to analytical instrumentation, today’s operators have many options — but the s::can spectro::lyser V3 stands out. It’s an extremely powerful ultraviolet (UV)/UV-Vis spectrophotometer that can measure total suspended solids (TSS), total solids, turbidity, color, total organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon, biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), NO3-N, NO3-, HS-, O3, chlorine demand, UV254, fingerprints, spectral alarms, and temperature. It can be customized with one parameter or 10 parameters, whatever fits the customer’s needs.
With UV-Vis Spectrometer probes, the device uses a beam of light to measure spectral absorption in a water sample. Then, the device is able determine different water quality parameters without using any chemicals or reagents, making it a fast and affordable form of analysis.
The spectro::lyser V3 comes factory calibrated, but also allows for multi-point calibration. The device is Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled, and can be configured without the need of user software. With eight gigabytes of onboard memory, it has the capacity for several years of data logging — and it has a long-term, maintenance-free operation to match.
The spectro::lyser V3 has applications throughout the wastewater process. It can be used to measure BOD and chemical oxygen demand (COD), which will quickly identify a foreign or toxic load entering the facility. For primary treatment, BOD and COD measurement can be used for supplemental carbon dosing to maximize efficiency and save costs on chemicals.
For aeration, BOD and COD can be measured throughout the basin to monitor consumption of the nutrient. Nitrate (NO3-) measurement can be used in the anaerobic zone to monitor nitrate poisoning or at the beginning and end of the anoxic zone to maximize denitrification and control the internal mixed-liquor rates; and TSS measurement can be used for mass calculations for solids retention time (SRT) control.
For effluent, the device can measure UV transmittance to optimize and operate UV systems or monitor other effluent quality parameters (BOD, NO3, TSS and turbidity) for water quality assurance.
In addition to the spectro::lyser V3, s::can offers a broad portfolio of monitoring and process control tools, including: the ammo::lyser for ammonia-based aeration control (ABAC) and to monitor influent and effluent ammonia loads, the oxi::lyser for the most common control of DO throughout the treatment train, the pH::lyser to control chemical feed from pH, and the redo::lyser for controlling or monitoring anaerobic, nitrification and denitrification zones to maintain range.
Recent advancements in analytical instrumentation give operators the power to see what’s happening in the treatment processes as it happens, allowing for quicker results, faster changes, and optimization of workers’ time, effort, and budget. WW
Badger Meter is exhibiting at WEFTEC22, booth 529. To learn more, visit www.badgermeter.com.
Published in WaterWorld magazine, September 2022.
