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Water and Wastewater Plant Directory
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La Porte, Indiana, USA
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La Porte Wastewater Treatment Plant
2101 Boyd Blvd.
La Porte, Indiana, 46350
USA
Contact Information:
Contact:
Email:
Telephone: 219-362-2354
Fax:
Plant Operation: Municipal
Processing: Wastewater
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Web site:
http://www.ci.la-porte.in.us/wwtp/
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Plant/Process Description:
La Porte's screening system consists of two
catenary bar-screens. This allows one to be used
as a backup bar-screen if there is trouble with
the primary bar-screen. As the wastewater flow
through the screen, level meters monitor the
level in front of the screen, and then level
behind the screen. When the difference between
the levels reaches a predefined setpoint, the
screen automatically actuates.
The grit is removed in two long narrow channels
that have a "scraper" that drags the grit from
the bottom of the channel where the grit settles
out, back to an auger where it is lifted out of
the channel and deposited into a holding
container. When the container is full, the grit
is then removed to a landfill for proper
disposal.
After the inorganic grit is removed from the
wastewater, the next step is to remove the
organic solids. The organic solids are material
that can be processed at the treatment facility
through the anaerobic digestion process. To
separate these solids from the rest of the
wastewater we use simple gravity. The wastewater
is split into four long tanks that allow the
water to slow down to less than 0.5 feet per
second. At this speed, floatable material will
separate from the water to the top, and the
heavier solid material will sink to the bottom.
The floatable material (also called "scum") is
skimmed off the surface of the water and also
sent to the digester.
During secondary treatment, the wastewater is
pumped to one of two treatment units. One of
the units is a large circular distributor that
moves and sprays the water over layers of plastic
media. This unit is called a "Rotary trickling
filter". The wastewater that is sprayed on the
plastic media then "trickles down" (hence the
name) the plastic to an underdrain system at the
bottom where the water is collected, then
transferred. While the water is trickling down
the plastic media, bacteria that are growing on
the media "eat" the leftover dissolved organic
material and nutrients that are in the water. As
the bacteria age and die, they no longer hold
onto the plastic media and the bacteria are
washed from the plastic by the wastewater in a
process called "sloughing".
When the wastewater is processed through the
Secondary stage of treatment, the bacteria that
remove the nutrients from the wastewater die over
time and they enter the wastestream as a solid
material. Just like with the primary settling
stage, this material can then be settled out of
the wastewater through additional settling. The
secondary settling tanks are very similar to the
primary settling tanks.
To remove the ammonia from the wastewater, La
Porte's Treatment Facility involves a special
type of Trickling Filter called a biotower. The
biotowers function similar to a regular tricking
filter, except that a biotower has twenty feet of
media and a regular trickling filter has about
five feet. Just like a regular trickling filter,
a biotower has a moving distribution system on
the top of the tower that sprays the wastewater
on the top of a plastic media. The water then
trickles down this media past bacteria that are
growing on it.
At the LaPorte Wastewater Facility, we receive
the chlorine in a compressed, liquid form. The
chlorine comes out of the cylinder as a gas at
room temperature and is then mixed with the
wastewater at a high enough level to kill the
bacteria in the water. The effect is the same as
adding chlorine to a swimming pool. Once the
chlorine has been added, the wastewater flows
through another tank called a contact chamber to
allow the chlorine time to work on the bacteria.
By the time the water has reached the end of the
contact chamber it is disinfected, however it is
now also toxic to aquatic life if it were to be
released back into the environment.
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Owner:
City of La Porte
Web site:
http://www.ci.la-porte.in.us/
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Operating Company:
City of La Porte
Web site:
http://www.ci.la-porte.in.us/
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Directions:
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Disclaimer:
Water and Wastewater.com provides the information on
this page for reference purposes only. We do not certify
the accuracy of the information provided by third-party
individuals for this listing.
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