GE installs LEAPmbr wastewater treatment system at Hamby plant in Abilene, US

General Electric has installed LEAPmbr advanced wastewater treatment system at the Hamby Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in Abilene, Texas, US.

The installation is part of the upgrade at the facility, which was installed in the city to help it cope with the low reservoir levels.

Upgrades at the WWTP were completed in December 2014.

The US firm delivered the system in just 14 months, which is considerably less than the typical 24 to 30 months required for similar projects.

Hamby Wastewater and Reuse Project is the first part of a multi-phase drought response initiative in Abilene.

The project involves integration of GE’s solution with a reverse osmosis system downstream at the WWTP, which enables it to discharge over 7 million gallons of treated wastewater every day into the city’s primary water supply reservoir Lake Fort Phantom Hill.

Treated discharges from the facility can help the city during future drought conditions and boost its clean water supplies.

The LEAPmbr treatment system features GE’s ZeeWeed 500 membrane, which is an advanced ultrafiltration technology that can separate solids, bacteria and viruses from water or wastewater.

GE was responsible for the design and supply of the entire membrane filtration system and elements of the biological treatment process for the facility.

Filtration performance of the system is in compliance with the state effluent requirements. It ensures delivery of top-quality water for optimum performance of the downstream reverse osmosis treatment system at the facility.

The firm will also offer remote monitoring services for the facility via its cloud-based data management software, InSight, in order to assist the operators in optimisation of asset performance and bring down the costs of operations.

Enprotec/Hibbs & Todd (eHT) was responsible for the design and construction of the Hamby WWTP upgrades.

eHT president Scott Hibbs said: "GE’s experience delivering membrane bioreactor (MBR) systems along with the simple installation of the LEAPmbr system has allowed us to meet our compressed 14-month schedule, and complete this successful project for the city of Abilene.

"Because the LEAPmbr system is enabling the facility’s treated water to meet stringent Texas Commission on Environmental Quality water quality standards, the plant can discharge its advanced treated water directly into the reservoir and immediately help to begin to boost the city’s reservoir water levels."

GE Power & Water engineered systems — water and process technologies general manager Yuvbir Singh said: "We are extremely pleased to showcase how quickly GE’s LEAPmbr technology was installed to help the city of Abilene, and how it can be used by other drought-stricken municipalities to treat and reuse more of their scarce water resources."

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Image: GE’s LEAPmbr treatment system helps Abilene reuse wastewater. Photo: courtesy of General Electric.