Wastewater Treatment Technology Wins Environmental Excellence Award
Nov. 5, 2003
MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. – An innovative wastewater treatment technology to improve water quality that was developed by a team of TVA employees has won a TVA Environmental Excellence Award for innovation and technology development.
Led by Les Behrends, TVA’s Wetlands and Water Quality team and its Resource Management organization worked with the private and public sector to demonstrate TVA’s ReCiprocating Water Technology, or ReCip®, which has been under development since 1994. ReCip systems have been used commercially to treat municipal, industrial and agricultural wastewater.
During the past two years, the ReCip technology has been used at a commercial swine farm near Aliceville, Ala., to treat wastewater from 5,600 feeder pigs. TVA scientists worked with the farm owner, a private engineering firm, and the U. S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service to develop a ReCip design and irrigation system.
The Environmental Protection Agency provided a grant to monitor the operation and collect water quality data, and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management provided expertise to ensure environmental compliance at the facility.
The ReCip system removed significant amounts of organic matter, odor and nitrogen compounds. Ammonia is a toxic form of nitrogen that can pollute groundwater, surface water and air. However, ReCip’s biological treatment system enables bacteria to rapidly convert ammonia to nitrogen gas, which is odorless and non-toxic. During the two-year demonstration, 93 to 198 pounds per acre per day of ammonia-nitrogen were removed by the ReCip system, based on rigorous wastewater monitoring and analysis.
TVA employees who were members of the Wetlands and Water Quality Team and Resource Management are Earl Bailey, Behrends, Gene Ellison, Laura Houke, Pat Jansen, Paul Pier, Keith Rylant, Catherine Shea, Sammie Smith and Terry Yost, all based in Muscle Shoals.
“The members of this team are being recognized for their efforts to sustain natural systems and promote environmental stewardship,” said TVA Environmental Executive Kate Jackson. “Efforts to integrate responsible environmental practices into business decisions, to comply with environmental laws and regulations, and to find new and better solutions for environmental and public protection have earned these employees this award.”
TVA’s Environmental Excellence Awards are presented annually to a TVA individual, team, site, facility or organization that has demonstrated exemplary environmental performance in support of one of TVA’s six environmental principles. Those principles are: management commitment; environmental protection and stewardship; environmental compliance; pollution prevention; partnerships/public involvement; and innovation and technology.
All award winners received certificates, and Behrends received a framed print depicting the Valley environment.
TVA is the nation’s largest public power provider and is completely self- financed. TVA provides power to large industries and 158 power distributors that serve 8.3 million consumers in seven southeastern states. TVA also manages the Tennessee River and its tributaries to provide multiple benefits, including flood control, navigation, water quality and recreation.
Read more about the ReCip technology (PDF, 165 kb).
Media Contact:
Michelle Chang, Knoxville (865-632-8108) or TVA News Bureau, Knoxville (865-632-6000)
