WASTEWATER DISCHARGE EVALUATION AND TREATMENT SYSTEM DESIGN
Quick Serve Restaurant
New Oxford, Hamilton Twp., PA

Project Description:

Wastewater discharge to public sanitary sewer systems is regulated by local ordinance. Compliance sampling and analyses by Hamilton Township identified constituent levels in wastewater discharged from the client's quick serve restaurant above maximum permissible concentrations for Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD₅), Oil and Grease (O&G), and Total Suspended Solids (TSS). Whitestone was retained to evaluate the situation and design a pretreatment system that would prevent future sewage discharge violations.

A wastewater discharge evaluation conducted to gather information needed for system design and treatment equipment selection included:

• researching local ordinances and regional/State regulations governing wastewater discharge and the installation of pretreatment equipment;
• performing an on-site inspection of the existing facilities and interviewing personnel to determine factors contributing to elevated wastewater pollutant levels;
• conducting wastewater sampling and analyses to determine BOD₅, O&G, TSS, Chemical Oxygen Demand, Total Solids (TS), Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen, Alkalinity, Ammonia as Nitrogen, pH, and temperature; and
• reviewing documentation detailing existing site conditions including surveys, site plans, geotechnical data, seasonal high groundwater data, existing sewer piping, manholes, and sewer connection points.

Based on results of the evaluation, Whitestone’s engineers recommended a suspended growth, activated sludge treatment process – specifically, a Jet Commercial Treatment Plant that employs a biological process known as extended aeration.  Whitestone also proposed the addition of a 1,000 gallon grease trap to proceed the existing 1,000 gallon grease trap in an effort to further reduce the O&G concentration and ease the frequency at which the existing grease trap and filter must be maintained. 

Whitestone facilitated the permitting and approvals process with Hamilton Township. This included preparation and submittal of a Preliminary Sewage Discharge Permit Compliance Report, a Sewer Connection Modification and Treatment Plant Concept, and the final Sewer Connection Modification and Treatment Plant Design.

Upon securing the required permits and approvals, Whitestone worked with the client to order the equipment and secure an installation contractor.  The plant was constructed in the Fall of 2008 and is currently operating as designed in full compliance with the local sewage discharge ordinance.

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