Waste Water Operations
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| Treatment Plant Operations Building |
Treatment Plant Aerial View |
The Palm Coast Wastewater Treatment Plant located at 26 Utility Drive is currently a 6.83 million gallons/day (MGD) activated sludge treatment facility which treats all the wastewater generated from the Palm Coast system. The original plant was put into operation in 1972 and was built with a capacity of 0.600 (MGD). Over the years, the Palm Coast Wastewater Treatment Plant has gone through several major expansions in order to accommodate our systems growth.
Wastewater Treatment Process
The Wastewater Treatment Plant process employs a headwork's structure (above left) with mechanical bar screens, a grit removal chamber combined with an odor control system for wastewater pretreatment of the plant influent (raw wastewater). The wastewater flow is then measured and divided between three aeration ditches (above right) and six clarifier basins which perform the biological treatment process and solids separation.
The clarified effluent then passes through disc filters (above left) to remove any remaining suspended solids before entering the chlorine contact chamber (above right) for disinfection and final flow measuring before reuse or disposal applications.
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The waste sludge treatment at the Palm Coast Wastewater Treatment Plant is accomplished by an aerobic digestion and sludge dewatering process. The solids that are removed from the clarifiers are wasted into five aerobic digesters (above left) which continue the aerobic stabilization. The solids content of the digesters is concentrated to approximately 1.5% solids by decanting (removal of water) from the digesters and then further thickened to approximately 18.0% solids by a centrifuge (above right). This process has reduced the volume and cost of sludge hauling. Disposal of residuals produced by the plant is handled via a contract hauler who owns and operates a permitted Residuals Management Facility (RMF). The RMF stabilizes the solids to create a Class AA fertilizer which can be used for any purpose.
Effluent Reuse
Reuse Master Plan
The Wastewater Treatment Plant provides effluent for reuse that has received advanced treatment as regulated by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. It must be filtered (disc filters, above left) so that the total suspended solids (TSS) does not exceed 5 mg/L (milligrams per Liter) and chlorinated (chlorine contact chambers, above right) to maintain a residual that does not fall below 1.0 mg/L and the fecal coliform count that does not exceed 25 colonies per 100 milliliters of effluent with 75 percent of the monthly total being undetectable. Facilities such as this that produce reclaimed effluent for reuse applications must perform extra testing; monitoring and have electronic controls to assure standards are being met.
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This highly treated effluent is used for irrigating golf courses, lawns and common areas. The effluent reuse sites that are supplied directly from the Palm Coast Wastewater Treatment Plant are the Wild Oaks subdivision at Grand Haven, the Toscana subdivision and the Hidden Lakes subdivision. Reuse effluent is supplied to specially lined holding ponds at the Hammock Dunes and Grand Haven Golf Course Communities, and then pumped from the ponds as needed. The Town Center Development can be supplied directly from the Treatment Plant or from the Cigar Lake Reuse Pump Station (above left). The Cigar Lake Reuse Pump Station pumps from a blended lake supply which is replenished with reuse from the Treatment Plant by a reuse main and lake fill structure (above right).Reuse is very beneficial because it helps reduce the demand for potable water which helps conserve our resources. In the future reclaimed water will be utilized at City of Palm Coast's Golf Course, the Conservatory (golf, residential and common areas) and Grand Landings.
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Although effluent for reuse applications has been treated to a high degree, contact should be avoided as a precautionary measure.
Effluent Disposal
Effluent disposal is accomplished by sending treated plant effluent to one of three disposal sites which include Rapid Infiltration Basins (RIB) (above left), spray fields (above right) and a wet weather Intracoastal discharge site. The Rapid Infiltration Basins used are large ponds with sandy bottoms. As the ponds are filled, the water percolates through the sand and recharges the ground water supply. At the same time water evaporates from the surface of the RIBs. The spray fields consist of two 30-acre fields where water is sprayed from large impact sprinkler heads allowing for some ground water recharge. During periods of heavy rain when the reuse system demand is greatly reduced, the excess of highly treated effluent is de-chlorinated and pumped into the Intracoastal at the wet weather discharge point. The amount of water is limited to 1.6 (MGD) for a maximum of 120 days per calendar year. This water must meet high standards and is tested daily during discharge.
Wastewater Collection Department
The Wastewater Collection Division is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the entire wastewater stream flow up to the Wastewater Treatment Plant as well as the installation of new sewer services and new construction. The Utility has approximately 600 miles of various types of sewer piping and 152 wastewater pumping stations.
Gravity Sewer System
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| Man Hole Entry |
Roots in CVP discovered threw CCTV |
Over one half of the collection system consists of gravity sewer of which is made up of PVC (poly vinyl chloride) or VCP (vitrified clay pipe). This system transports the wastewater stream flow to the system pumping stations by gravity. It is very important that this system is properly maintained to prevent failures and sewer backups which can lead to sewer spills and health hazards in the community. The utility has an ongoing maintenance program that consists of inspecting and cleaning of gravity sewer mains with specialized equipment such as CCTV and trucks equipped with high pressure cleaning and vacuum equipment .The goal of the collection department is to clean and inspect ten percent of the gravity system each year.
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| CCTV Sewer Main |
Cleaning a sewer main with Vac-Con |
After the cleaning and inspection are complete all points that are in need of repair are logged and are prioritized. The utility has trained personnel to repair gravity sewer pipe by installing fiberglass liners inside of piping at the point of failure. This procedure seals cracked or separated pipe and eliminates ground water intrusion and undesirable materials such as dirt and sand from entering the system. Another point of entry for ground water is manholes that have developed leaks around seams and joints as well as riser sections located just below street level. For this repair the utility uses a urethane grout that is injected around the point of infiltration to fill the void that has developed behind the manhole wall and seals the leak.
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| Broken 8" PVC sewer main before point repair |
Fixed 8" PVC after point repair |
Another means of maintaining the system and locating sources of I&I (Inflow and Infiltration) is smoke testing. In this procedure smoke in forced into the gravity sewer and escapes from the system via openings such as broken cleanout caps or sewer services that have been damaged by trenching equipment installing telephone or cable TV lines. The exit points are marked and given GPS coordinates and then utility crews return and make the necessary repairs. This helps eliminate storm water intrusion and will also identify illegal connections of gutter downspouts into the sewer system.
Pep System
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| Leaking man hole found threw smoke testing |
PEP stands for Pretreatment Effluent Pumping System and accounts for the other half of the wastewater collection system besides gravity sewer. The PEP system has several distinct characteristics such as smaller pipes made from PVC that does not have to be laid as deeply in the ground as the conventional gravity sewer system and manholes are not required. This virtually eliminates ground water intrusion. The system is owned and operated by the City of Palm Coast. With over 14,000 pep units currently installed the utility must have an affective preventative maintenance program in place. Utility crews are inspecting individual systems on a daily basis to assure that the system is working properly and to make any adjustments or replace componants as needed. The utility goal is to inspect each unit on a two year rotation. The utility also maintains a 24 hour call service to respond system alarms or problems that may occur in the pep system. For more information on the pep system please go to the link labeled Pep System Information Guide.
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| PEP Maintenance |
PEP Maintenance |
Mechanical Maintenance Department
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| Weekly Station Inspections |
Confined Space Entry |
The Mechanical Maintenance Department consists of highly diversified skilled crews that are responsible for the inspection, maintenance, and repair of 154 pumping stations inside the City of Palm Coast Service Area. The pumping stations are inspected three times weekly to insure proper electrical and pumping efficacy and all repairs and adjustments are made as needed. In addition each pump station is inspected on an annual schedule that involves removing each pump for a detailed inspection as well as the pump control panel and the SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system is fine tuned as needed. From these inspections the department generates and prioritizes a list of needed repairs and or upgrades that help avoid failures and costly down time. The utility places great emphasis on safety for the protection of city employees as well as the community. All confined space entries are performed according to OSHA standards and the city safety policies. Safety equipment such as fall arrestors, air purifying blowers, and air quality are utilized in all entries as well as coordinating with the city fire department for assistance as needed. In addition to pumping stations the Mechanical maintenance Department performs maintenance and repairs to process equipment at the Water and Wastewater Treatment Facilities as well as other City of Palm Coast Sites.
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PEP System Information Guide
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