Proceedings of the 2023 Mississippi Water Resources Conference

Year: 2023 Authors: Ford G., Rokooei S., Hatami A.

A common treatment in municipal wastewater systems in the United States is aeration. Aeration promotes growth of microbes which feed on organic waste, easily removed from wastewater through flocculation. Aerators are often the most expensive treatment component in municipal systems from an electrical cost standpoint. They can also be challenging to maintain. Blower CFM, manifold pressure, leaking pipes, gearbox malfunction and motor failures are a few of the operation issues posed by aerators. If the aerators are not providing enough oxygen to the wastewater, the treatment system effectiveness may be severely impaired. To minimize maintenance and operating costs and to ensure system effectiveness, holistic maintenance and treatment plans must be considered. This discussion will examine aeration at a local wastewater treatment plant in northeastern Mississippi and recent issues experienced with Aerator gearbox failures. The causes of these failures and the chosen solution will be presented.