Budget Message / Highlights - Metropolitan Water Reclamation ...

METROPOLITAN WATER RECLAMATION DISTRICT OF GREATER CHICAGO
2009 BUDGET
MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS
2009 BUDGET NARRATIVE (continued)
BIOSOLIDS PROCESSING AND UTILIZATION PLAN
The District’s wastewater treatment processes produce approximately 192,000 dry tons of biosolids each year making our
program the largest of its kind in the country. Discovering new outlets for the entire production of biosolids presents an
ongoing challenge. One of our key objectives is to beneficially utilize as much of the biosolids as possible in an
environmentally safe manner. Beneficial reuse essentially means the utilization of biosolids to take advantage of the superior
nutrient qualities and soil-like characteristics of the biosolids. These qualities can be used to support vegetation and crops while
reducing the need for topsoil and fertilizers. Beneficial reuse includes cropland application; development of parks, golf courses
and recreational fields; application as a top dressing to rejuvenate turf areas; and for use as daily cover and final cover of
sanitary landfills.
In addition to pursuing the beneficial
reuse of our biosolids, we also strive
to run a highly cost-effective
operation. We are employing more
efficient machines and other
technologies into our daily operations
to speed up the drying process, lower
costs, and lower air emissions. Long
range plans and strategies developed
in the early to mid-1990s have now
been implemented. This places the
District in a very sound operating
position for the future. One of the
strategies was to utilize the lagoon
operation as part of the solids
processing cycle rather than for long
term storage. Under this plan,
centrifuge cake and low solids are
aged in the lagoons for an average of
18 months as a means of further
processing. Beyond this aging cycle,
DRY TONS
200,000 DT's
180,000 DT's
160,000 DT's
140,000 DT's
120,000 DT's
100,000 DT's
80,000 DT's
60,000 DT's
40,000 DT's
20,000 DT's
0 DT's
2004 (actual)
2005 (actual)
SOLIDS UTILIZATION PLAN
2004 - 2013
Pelletizer
Land Application -
Cake
Dry Utilization
the biosolids are utilized on a steady-state basis in order to minimize the creation of a backlog that could result in accumulating
significant funding requirements in the future. One goal of this plan was to eliminate the backlog of biosolids that had
accumulated in the last decade as cost effective outlets arose. This backlog has been removed and biosolids are now essentially
processed and utilized on a steady-state basis.
An ongoing concern for all biosolids producing agencies is the availability of consistent, reliable and cost-effective outlets for
their biosolids. During the 1990s our Biosolids Marketing Team produced high profile success stories such as the development
of the Harborside International and Water’s Edge Golf Courses along with other smaller successes. The Marketing Team
continues to nurture ongoing outlet programs and to pursue future biosolids outlets. It became apparent, however, that due to
the size of our program we could not rely on large-scale opportunities of this nature to arise when needed. Rather, we needed to
secure an outlet for our biosolids that had consistent and long-term viability, the ability to withstand annual fluctuations and
was cost effective. Although the District’s Fulton County site met these criteria, the higher transportation costs due to its
location approximately 200 miles southwest of Chicago, precluded it as a highly desirable option. However, due to the ready
availability of large stretches of farmland in neighboring counties, within reasonable distances from our plants, we decided to
pursue a program of direct farmland application of centrifuge cake. This program, which began in 1995, has proven extremely
successful and has grown steadily over the years.
The 2009 Solids Utilization Plan is anticipated to beneficially use approximately 137,600 dry tons of biosolids (30,600 from
Calumet, 101,000 from Stickney, and 6,000 from the North Service Area). We will continue our efforts to beneficially utilize
the District’s biosolids production as final cover for landfills, direct farmland application of centrifuge cake and for use under
the controlled solids distribution program. We have also begun working with Engineering and the Monitoring and Research
Department in reviewing the possible production of Class A biosolids directly from our digesters under our master plans.
2006 (actual)
2007 (actual)
2008 (plan)
2009 (plan)
2010 (plan)
2011 (plan)
2012 (plan)
2013 (plan)
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