CITY OF NEW BEDFORD

The City of New Bedford, MA was having problems with sewers blocking due to grease accumulation. Grease build up was restricting flow, and hydrogen sulfide levels were causing excessive ventilation in a lift station. Past problems had been bad enough to warrant a complete replacement of the sewer line between industrial food processors and a lift station.


Treatment Program

The Bacta-Pur® System for grease and odor control automatically and continuously activates and adds famished Bacta-Pur® bioaugmentation products to water treatment systems. The System is purely biological without added surfactants and emulsifiers, which simply move the grease down stream. This unique technique ensures a continuous presence of the microorganisms required to biodegrade grease and sludge. The modular design of the Bacta-Pur® BACTIVATOR® makes it possible to install multiple machines, in series, to accommodate different flow rates. The sewers were filmed and videotaped, by officials from the City of New Bedford, MA, prior to beginning the treatment and again following 12 months of treatment.









Results

The initial filming, of the section of sewer to be treated, was not complete. This was because accumulated grease
prevented the camera from getting through. The grease formed a series of stalactite type obstructions, and the
functional diameter of the sewer was severely reduced (Fig. 1).
Twelve months of treatment showed that the grease had not only been digested but the pipe was cleaned to the point that the joints were visible (Fig. 2). Occluding grease had been removed, eliminating an additional premature
replacement of the sewer. Comments from the operator described the situation as ‘whistle clean’.
Required ventilation times for the down stream pumping station was reduced by approximately 66%.



REFERENCES:

Bacta-Pur / IET-Aquaresearch Ltd. 97 Cove Street, New Bedford, MA, 02744-2516 Phone: (508) 961-2892 Fax: (508) 961-2894