Energy and biomass recovery from wastewater: Piloting resource recovery wastewater treatment. Volume 1 of 2. Final report, September 1986-December 1990

The goal of the project was to demonstrate in a large pilot study that domestic sewage could be converted to useful products, mainly substitute natural gas and clean water using two low-cost biological processes -- a high-rate anaerobic treatment unit followed by a hydroponic plant treatment system. The anaerobic attached film expanded bed (AAFEB) and the Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) are two innovative technologies developed over more than a decade at Cornell University. Documentation of this biological system for 52 months at flows up to 40 s/d (greater than 10,000 gal/d) showed the system to be highly successful. Sludge generation was less than at conventional primary plants and much less than at conventional secondary facilities. The economics of the hypothesized system appear promising.