March 6th, 2018 – Microbe Detectives’ Inaugural Biological Nutrient Removal Study, “Performance Comparison of Biological Nutrient Removal (BNR) Systems,” is underway with several major municipalities already participating. Savings of $35 million in BNR design costs and $500 thousand in OPEX have already been documented for one municipality.
Dr. Leon Downing, Principal Process and Innovation Leader, of Black and Veatch will serve as the Principal Author of the study. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, Dr. Downing then received his M.S. and PhD from the University of Notre Dame, focusing on process modeling and energy efficient biological nutrient removal. Over the past decade, he has focused on the application of process modeling, innovative technologies, and operational strategies within the wastewater treatment field. Leon has most recently been contributing the shift in our industry from wastewater treatment to resource recovery. He was the vice chair and contributing author for the recent WEF publication Moving Towards Resource Recovery Facilities, has served on the Issue Area Team for the WERF Resource Recovery Challenge research program, and has been involved with the evaluation, design, and/or operation of multiple energy efficiency, biogas utilization, and struvite harvesting projects.
“Next generation sequencing technologies have the ability to provide a whole new set of data that can be used for data-driven decision making related to operations, optimization, and design,” said Dr. Downing. “ This study will help to develop guidelines related to required frequency of testing, key performance indicators for ecology shifts, and economic benefits of next generation sequencing approaches.”
“Dr. Downing’s BNR expertise and passion is truly exceptional,” said John Tillotson CEO of Microbe Detectives. “We have had the good fortune of collaborating over the past several years on metagenomics applied in renewable resource recovery systems and have made great progress. This study, under the guidance of Dr. Downing, will bring BNR optimization opportunities to an entirely new level.”
Biological Nutrient Removal Study Objectives:
- Enable and quantify substantial gains in BNR performance
- Apply DNA sequencing and operational data analyses to link microbiome digital signature to BNR performance
- Digitize the microbiome of many different BNR systems across different facilities, climates, and times of year.
- Educate the BNR industry on insights and possibilities
- Provide educational opportunities for participants to “tell their story”
Biological Nutrient Removal Study Deliverables:
Microbe Detectives will provide specialized DNA sequencing, analyses, and reports on a regular basis to participating facilities as specified by the selected monitoring package. Operational data will also be collected, analyzed and incorporated into the study where possible.
All DNA sequencing and operational data across all participating facilities will be aggregated, analyzed and incorporated into The 2018 Performance Comparison of Bio Nutrient Removal report. Participants of the study will receive a complimentary copy of this report.
Dr. Leon Downing will present key findings at the 2018 Microbiome Water Summit. This session will be video recorded and streamed live on the Internet with free access. Participants will have the opportunity to collaborate, co-present, participate on panels and network at the 2018 Microbiome Water Summit and other conferences.
To learn more about how to participate, click here
About Microbe Detectives
Microbe Detectives is an innovator in applying modern DNA science and technology to transform water quality measurement and monitoring of wastewater, anaerobic digesters, process water, and other biological systems. Wastewater facilities utilize the company’s DNA sequencing services to optimize treatment systems, recover renewable resources, and reduce operating costs by 20 to 60%. Product innovators uniquely quantify and validate the performance of their products when applied to water microbiome environments. Microbe Detectives graduated from the Water Council’s BREW accelerator in 2014 and is a winner of the Wisconsin Innovation Awards. https://MicrobeDetectives.com/