Using Technology to Treat Wastewater in Batesville

When the water treatment system in Batesville, Arkansas, reached the end of its lifespan, city officials decided bold was better. Rather than expanding and patching the 30-year-old system or replacing it with something similar, city officials decided to infuse innovation into this vital piece of infrastructure.

The city chose to build a technology-fueled system that could meet new, stringent effluent limits; add additional treatment capacity; and help attract new industries and more jobs.

The city worked closely with Olsson to design and engineer a moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) wastewater treatment system, the first of its kind in Arkansas. Batesville’s MBBR is the largest of its kind in the U.S., and it delivers a flexible, cost-effective, easy-to-operate system that can be quickly expanded as needed.

“The MBBR wastewater treatment system uses a more sophisticated process that treats a higher capacity of water in a smaller footprint of space,” said Jim Ulmer, engineering technical leader at Olsson, who served as project manager of the Batesville project.

The previous wastewater treatment system used 100 acres of lagoons, which worked very well for most of the year but would shut down during an extended winter cold snap. The MBBR allows Batesville to keep the lagoons, and it operates more efficiently during cold weather.

“MBBR is used by cities in northern Europe, and that got our attention,” said Damon Johnson, Batesville’s city engineer. “As we started to learn more about it, we visited some plants in Colorado that use an MBBR and we were amazed how easy it was to operate.”

What makes Batesville’s innovative wastewater treatment system unique is it combines a series of lagoons, a basin, and an MBBR. The MBBR treats wastewater through an organic process by applying vigorous aeration to the wastewater system tanks, which contain millions of small plastic media. The plastic media create an enhanced environment, which in turn improves the efficiency of the treatment process.

The results have been amazing. The plant’s discharge goes directly into the White River, and the discharge is a much higher quality than required by permit. The amounts of ammonia and nitrogen have been reduced to nearly immeasurable amounts.

“We are leaps and bounds below our permitted levels, and we reached those levels with minimal effort,” Johnson said.

The Olsson team provided the project’s engineering and design work, devised the facility plan process, and secured environmental permits.

“Our team designed a wastewater treatment system that will have a lasting impact on the city and its residents while maintaining the pristine environment of the White River,” Ulmer said. “Major accomplishments like this only occur when the city leaders, the design team, and the citizens who chose to finance the construction with a sales tax work together to better the community.”