Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2016ND320B

Comparative Ultraviolet Disinfection Study for Wastewater Applications for the City of Fargo, North Dakota

Institute: North Dakota
Year Established: 2016 Start Date: 2016-03-01 End Date: 2017-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $4,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $8,000

Principal Investigators: Wei Lin

Project Summary: The City of Fargo owns and operates the only wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) in Fargo, ND. The Fargo WWTF will undergo an expansion, increasing its peak pumping capacity from 25 to 50 MGD. Due to space limitation and chemical cost associated with chlorination and dechlorination which are the current practices, UV disinfection is being considered as a replacement for chlorination and dechlorination. The City of Fargo proposes to have a pilot scale comparative study to evaluate different UV systems for wastewater treatment effluent disinfection. The goal of this pilot study is to provide the City of Fargo and its engineering consultant with design parameters needed to effectively design a disinfection system that does not just meet the Environmental Protection Agency disinfection requirements, but it provides a solution to the multiple concerns raised by the City of Fargo. The specific objectives of the proposed research (associated with the pilot scale comparative study) are as follows: 1) Evaluation of impact of flow variations on UV disinfection efficiency; 2) Determination of disinfection efficiency on E. Coli and other microorganisms; 3) Investigation of impact of effluent turbidity on UV transparency and disinfection efficiency; and 4) Evaluation of fouling tendency, impact of fouling and cleaning requirements.