Atlantic City’s City Island Wastewater Treatment Plant’s 40-mgd ( million gallons/day) activated sludge plant finds success by combining strategic energy conservation practices, with some of the largest wind and solar initiatives in the wastewater sector. It’s a committed and combined effort for rate stabilization and environmentalism. The plant saves more than $1.6 million per year in energy costs. Additionally, energy represents 20 percent of the plant’s overall budget, down from 30 percent only a few years ago. The efforts have even turned the plant into a tourist attraction, and its operation has received numerous awards from the National Association for Clean Water Agencies.
The City Island plant realized that the first step toward energy savings was to reduce consumption of electricity and natural gas. As such, it targeted improvements in aeration and bio solids processes. While working on energy savings, ACUA (Atlantic County Utilities Authority) began discussions with Jersey-Atlantic Wind LLC, about using wind power to supply part of the plant’s electrical needs, as part of a long-term lease/power purchase agreement. Recently, ACUA moved forward with the $12.5 million wind farm which is considered the first coastal wind farm in the northeastern United States. Since the start of the operation, it has met nearly 60 percent of the plant’s power needs. The notion of cost-effective wind power drove ACUA to consider solar power, as well. The City Island plant is currently looking into more ways to save energy and help protect the environment.
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