Watershed Academy to present webcast on improving nutrient reduction at wastewater treatment plants

Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Watershed Academy is presenting a webcast on Oct. 15 at 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Eastern on a recently released draft report, Case Studies on Implementing Low-Cost Modifications to Improve Nutrient Reduction at Wastewater Treatment Plants.

As many studies have shown, nutrient pollution is one of America's costliest and most challenging water quality problems. However, many of the nation's wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) were not designed for nutrient removal and major retrofits may be a significant hurdle. The recent EPA draft report showcases a number of communities that were able to achieve better nutrient treatment at WWTPs through relatively low-cost modifications without requiring costly infrastructure upgrades. Nitrogen discharge levels in 12 case study plants were reduced by about 20 to 70 percent. Two case studies also documented low-cost phosphorus reduction of 40 to 58 percent. In many cases, these facilities also reduced energy consumption and lowered operational costs. The webcast will give listeners a broad overview of the report, and will highlight two of the case studies in Crewe, Va., and Victor Valley, Calif.

EPA is also interested in learning of additional communities’ successes and intends to update this document to help more of the nation's WWTPs make progress toward additional nutrient reductions. Comments and additional case studies can be submitted by Dec. 15, 2015 to POTWOptiNP@epa.gov.

The draft report is available at https://www2.epa.gov/nutrient-policy-data/reports-and-research#reports.

Register for the webcast to learn more at https://www2.epa.gov/watershedacademy.