Wet Tech Environmental Inc. - Comparisons between the "Levapor" advanced bio-media and other media for wastewater treatment
Wet Tech Environmental is a company that provides advanced treatment for wastewater treatment. We are involved in a unique well proven wastewater treatment technology that have been well proven for decades in other countries, yet new to North America. The technology, "Levapor", is an advanced bio-media used in wastewater treatment for the processes involving the “Moving Bed Bio-film Reactor” MBBR, and similarly in a “Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge” IFAS. The MBBR is a process in which media is floated freely throughout the digestor at a wastewater treatment facility. Unlike a fixed medial or no media at all the moving media process outperforms other biological processes, by being able to process wastewater in a smaller area and decrease the contaminate levels in which the wastewater is measured. The most important part of the floating media in the MBBR treatment process is the media itself. These media used in a biological wastewater treatment process are made up of numerous types, ranging from; polyethylene (plastic balls), to ceramic media, polyurethane foam, etc. The effectiveness of each media is measured by numerous results, steming largely from the surface area of the media. Generally the larger surface area of the media the more effective the results, other benefits prevail as well. An extremely high surface area provided by the Levapor biocarrier, > 15,000 m²/m³ , is significantly higher than virtually any other biocarrier on the market. Higher surface area reduces the required water volume fill, typically a volume of wastewater in an MBBR will require media to fill approximately 30% to 60% whereas the Levapor biocarrier . requires only a 12% to 15% fill. The lower volume of media required enabled by the increased surface area of the bio-carrier, provides abundant biological growth on the bio-carriers and ample area within the volume of wastewater to avoid colliding bio-carriers which result in loss of attached microbial growth. Not to mention of course, the cost per cubic metre of the biocarrier when achieving the manufacturers required volume. Below is some exammples of the surface areas of bio-carriers compared to the Levapor. Ceramic bio-media - 400 m²/m³ Polyethylene - 780 m²/m³ Polyurethane Foam - 1,500 m²/m³ LEVAPOR - > 15,000 m²/m³ As the growth of bacteria is the goal to increasing efficiency at the WWTP. Characteristics of the bio-media play the most significant role in the health of microbial development and sustainability at a wastewater treatment facility. Advancements of the MBBR technology have resulted in applications where the MBBR is used along side other treatment technologies to reduce certain contaminates before other treatment processes are used. The main objective is to determine how the "Levapor" bio-media can be used alongside other wastewater technologies to aid in the entire process of wastewater treatment.