In-Pipe™ Technology Company's President, Dan Williamson, announced performance results this week of In-Pipe's service contract with the City of Lynn Haven, Florida. Lynn Haven is under contract with In-Pipe™ Technology for In-Pipe's patented treatment process for municipal wastewater. "In- Pipe™ has virtually eliminated all the sewer and treatment plant grease problems in Lynn Haven, and the water discharged from the treatment plant to the bay has improved", said Williamson. In-Pipe™ Technology is a microbial treatment process used to improve the performance and economics of existing wastewater sewer and treatment facilities. "Both the Citizens of Lynn Haven and the environment benefit from the use of the In-Pipe™ process", In-Pipe's President said. "We are pleased to be of service to the City and proud to contribute to their efforts to achieve their environmental goals", added Williamson.

The Lynn Haven treatment facility has been plagued with a severe grease problem continuously since the commissioning of their new Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) advanced wastewater treatment plant. The new facility is designed for about 2.6 Million Gallons per Day (MGD) of wastewater, but has struggled to maintain discharge compliance while processing less than 1.5 MGD. The treatment basins have been loaded with a thick grease blanket and this grease load greatly interfered with the aeration process and the settling of the solids for removal following aeration. To make matters worse, the plant was designed with minimum digester capacity. This created excessive sludge hauling costs for the city. The plant also uses an Ultra-Violet (UV) disinfection system for final effluent sanitization. The UV system requires filtration beforehand and the filtration system continuously fouled with grease, resulting in much higher than budgeted labor and chemical expense for the frequent cleaning.

After only six weeks of In-Pipe™ treatment, the plant performance is dramatically improved. Over 60% of the basin surfaces are now clear of all grease, and the remaining grease is very light and partially digested. The daily sludge volume wasted to the digesters has dropped by over 30% for the month of May versus the average of Jan 1 – March 31, and continues to decline. As a result, the number of sludge trucks leaving the plant has also been reduced. Another very notable improvement is the clarity of the wastewater after treatment and before disinfection. Where it was murky, it is now very clear. This has reduced the amount of UV light required to disinfect the wastewater. Additionally, the plant effluent is below 1.0 ppm for phosphorous with no chemical addition.

"The data shows that the performance improvement in Lynn Haven is off to a great start", added Williamson. "The plant is now reducing their aeration power consumption to further reduce their operating costs. Plant management is very pleased with the results. These are important aspects and will be good for Lynn Haven and the local environment", said Dan Williamson. "We look forward to the implementation of our In- Pipe™ process in other cities in the Florida Panhandle", he added.

In-Pipe's patented technology uses the continuous addition of extremely high concentrations of microbes in the collection system to eliminate sewer system grease and odor problems, reduce sludge production, reduce electrical power requirements at the treatment plant, and reduce infrastructure corrosion, all of which adds up to significant savings to the client while enhancing the quality of the treated wastewater discharged into the environment. The service is funded entirely from cost savings realized from the existing budget with no "up-front" capital expense to the city. The performance claims of In-Pipe™ Technology Company are under evaluation by the Civil Engineering Research Foundation's EPA funded Technology Verification Program (CERF-EvTEC). The evaluation program will review In-Pipe's performance in Lynn Haven. For more information on the verification program please contact Mr. Brian Rustia, CERF-EvTEC Program Manager at brustia@cerf.org.