Requirements to improve water quality forced the Borough of Mifflinburg to upgrade their facility to meet regulatory limits for Total Nitrogen and Total Phosphorus. Recognizing the need for change, management asked Herbert, Rowland, & Grubic to prepare a capital improvement plan and evaluate the best course of action to meet future wastewater treatment needs. Now with the capacity to treat 4.4 million gallons of wastewater per day (17,000 m³/day), the Mifflinburg wastewater treatment plant is one of the largest MBRs in operation throughout the Chesapeake Bay region, which includes six states: Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Effective screening has long been a key concern for MBR owners, operators, and engineers. Membrane fouling is the most serious problem affecting system performance and is a direct result of suspended solids in the wastewater that can damage membranes, decreasing their efficiency, and dramatically increasing their lifecycle costs. Consequences to fouling include increased power consumption, backwashing, cleaning, and replacement. The mechanical screens installed at any MBR facility provide critical frontline protection to maximize the membrane systems efficiency and integrity.
• MS Bar Screen: 1 • Bar Spacing: 6 mm (0.24 in) • Design Flow: 9.5 MGD (36,000 m³/day) • Material of Construction: 304 SS • Eliminator Band Screen: 2 • Openings: 2mm (0.08 in) • Design Flow per Screen: 4.5 MGD (17,000 m³/day) • Screwpactors:2 • Handle the screenings volume produced by all 3 screens
To ensure successful operation of Mifflinburg’s Membrane Bioreactor, new screening equipment was required to truly safeguard the plant’s investment. When asked why Headworks® was selected as the supplier, Mr. Steve Benner, Borough Project Manager stated that, “with more than 15 years of wastewater screening experience, Headworks has earned a reputation for high quality, reliable, low maintenance screens. Although there are viable alternatives in this market, Headworks was able to competitively offer the required equipment meeting the stringent specifications of the bidding documents. They have a track record of successful installations and were a natural choice to provide all of the equipment for the headworks at the Mifflinburg facility.”
