March 17, 2010
On Tuesday night I attended a meeting of the Hopewell Community Industrial Panel held at the Hopewell Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility (HRWTF). Before the meeting, we were taken on a tour of the facilities’ new experimental treatment system to remove nitrogen from the treated water before it is released into the James River. The Hopewell plant, like others around the Commonwealth, is faced with reducing its nitrogen load, to meet new tougher requirements for improving water conditions in the river and the Chesapeake Bay. I was really impressed with what I saw.
HRWTF ‘s experimental system uses a series of rotating wheels turning in a pool of water. The wheels are turned by a bubble system powered by a low horsepower motor. Algae naturally forms on the ridged wheels and takes nitrogen out of the water as it grows. It then sloughs off the wheels and collects at the bottom of the pools. It is collected, centrifuged and dried. The dry algal product can then be turned into biofuel, feed supplements, etc., turning a problem for the river into a potentially profitable enterprise. Many times the City of Hopewell gets a bad rap because of its industrial base and the sins of the past, such as Kepone, but the effort of our industries and the HRWTF to look for new and better ways to treat our wastewater and improve water quality in the James is admirable. We look forward to seeing how this experiment plays out.