Environment, Coasts, Oceans, & Infrastructure

On September  24, there will be a groundbreaking ceremony for Doctors Lake Phosphorus Removal Pilot Project. The Project is a full-scale demonstration project to significantly reduce phosphorus from Fleming Island Regional Wastewater Plant discharges. Treated effluent will be pumped and distributed over a vegetated filtration bed, which uses engineered media to remove phosphorus. This media binds with phosphorous, removing it from the water. The phosphorus remains bound to the engineered media, so no byproduct is produced. The treated water from this innovative project is returned to the effluent stream and, ultimately, Doctors Lake.

I’m interested to see if other communities have attempted similar innovative approaches? What has your experience been? Do you have any lessons you have learned?

If you are interested in attending, please let me know and I can pass on additional information.

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Marcus Quigley P.E., D.WRE, M.ASCE
CEO
Ecolucid LLC
Brookline MA
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Marcus,

This is a cool project and I'm interested to learn more. Similar projects have been planned and constructed here in Florida, notably in Brevard County, but I am sure elsewhere.  We have proposed a similar concept for in-channel denitrification projects.  Do you have any schematics or conceptual graphics of what is being proposed for this Doctor's Lake project?  I'm interested to learn more.

Thank you!
Patrick Shearer, PE
E Sciences, Miami, FL

Marcus:  I'm curious what the "engineered media" consist of?  Thanks...

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C. Luton P.E., A.M.ASCE
VP Sales and Marketing
Nclear Inc.
Atlanta GA
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The media is a proprietary material primarily made up of water treatment residuals. See a more detailed description at:

https://www.swig-llc.com/doctors-lake-enhanced-phosphorus-removal

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Marcus Quigley P.E., D.WRE, M.ASCE
CEO
Ecolucid LLC
Brookline MA
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Original Message:
Sent: 09-13-2019 11:08
From: C. Luton
Subject: Doctors Lake Phosphorus Removal Pilot Project Groundbreaking Ceremony

Marcus:  I'm curious what the "engineered media" consist of?  Thanks...

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C. Luton P.E., A.M.ASCE
VP Sales and Marketing
Nclear Inc.
Atlanta GA
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I'm curious how is the spent media removed and replaced, does the entire filter bed and wetland plants need to be removed and rebuilt?

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Kevin Bynum Aff.M.ASCE
Senior Civil Engineer
Long and Associates
Tampa FL
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This looks like a great project.  It seems like this is similar to a constructed wetland, but I can't tell from the rendering what kind.  Is vertically dosed or subsurface flow?  Is the media floating on top of the water like a floating wetland?  We've done various types of constructed wetlands for stormwater and wastewater treatment including surface flow, subsurface flow, vertical flow, tidal flow, and floating wetlands.  We typically are treatment for BOD and TSS, then for Nitrogen removal.  However, we have had success removing Phosphorus as well.  I'd be very interested to learn more about how the media is contained and dosed.  Best of luck!

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Justin Lyon P.E., M.ASCE
Biohabitats
Philadelphia PA
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I'm curious about what will be done with the reclaimed phosphorous.  Phosphorous has tremendous value as the world reserves are being depleted and eventually washed into the oceans.  Professor Dave Karl, PhD., University of Hawaii, has been working on a method of reclaiming phosphorous from the oceans and has suggested that his method could be used in conjunction with Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion.  So, how is the Doctors Lake process different from Dave Karl's?  What other elements will be recovered during the Doctors Lake project?

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Barry Cole A.M.ASCE
Executive Vice President
Mineral VA
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Hello All, 

I am Bill Lucas, the developer of this technology I patented this 9 years ago. To answer most of your questions, see the link Marcus posted. https://www.swig-llc.com/doctors-lake-enhanced-phosphorus-removal.   Under these extreme loads (~7000 lb/ac/y) the media accumulates so much P that it loses retention capacity rapidly.  So yes, the spent media is removed and replaced.  It represents only part of the cost, since this system also has a pump station and extensive distribution piping. Under typical runoff loading rates, the useful life would be measured in decades.  Each situation is different, and the media is sized and formulated accordingly.   

The fact the retained P is not leachable means that the media is effectively removing the same amount of P twice.  First, when it sequesters the P in our project, and then when the sequestered P is utilized.  This is because there isn't any of the runoff P that you would get from typical P fertilizer.  This is particularly important in sandy soils like Florida golf courses that require irrigation.  We thus anticipate a healthy market for the media.  We are reusing a waste product, and then reusing it again. 

Feel free to contact me at williaml@... if you have ideas or suggestions for using this technology in other projects.

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William Lucas Aff.M.ASCE
CE
Malvern PA
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