14
NCRWA.COM |
Summer 2014
feature
The renovation of the Hillsborough wastewater treatment plant resulted
in a new facility (with re-purposed buildings) using five-stage biological
nutrient removal denitrification filters that polish the finished water
before discharge to the Eno River. The new plant also incorporates fine
bubble diffusers to better distribute oxygen throughout the wastewater
column as part of the treatment process. The hydraulic capacity of the
new plant is 3 million gallons per day of tertiary treated wastewater,
more than doubling the capacity of the old plant.
The new wastewater treatment plant doesn’t have to be manned
24-hours per day, like the old plant because of its Supervisory
Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. The need for less
manpower freed up workers for other duties. All the electronics in
the old plant were replaced to bring the system up to code, and to
provide the Town with the latest computer assisted control of the
wastewater system.
Hillsborough’s water system has about 5,000 customers (about the
population of the Town) and the wastewater system serves about
3,900 connections, mostly within the town limits. The new wastewater
system uses the most technologically viable process possible to clean
up the wastewater to the exacting standards. Jeff told
Pipeline
that a
belt press was added in the plant renovation, which greatly reduced
the volume of sludge, which is composted and land applied.
The Town of Hillsborough discharges clean, tertiary-treated
wastewater to the Eno River that meets the stringent requirements
for nutrient loading imposed by the Falls watershed rules. The Eno
River’s relationship with the Town is still strong, and the Town of
Hillsborough and its employees continue the good stewardship that
will be necessary for us to wisely use our natural resources. North
Carolina Rural Water Association is proud to have the Town of
Hillsborough as a system member.
“The new wastewater system uses the most
technologically viable process possible to clean
up the wastewater to the exacting standards.”
