Solutions to Global Challenges

Improve wastewater treatment efficiency

Optimise processes, reclamation, energy and chemical usage to reduce costs, human errors and environmental impact

The issue

Wastewater treatment and reclamation plants (WWTPs and WRPs) are key infrastructures for ensuring a proper protection of our environment. However, they consume large amounts of energy and chemicals, produce high greenhouse gas emissions including methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide and insufficiently remove emerging contaminants such as antibiotics and microplastics. In addition to growing environmental concerns, these facilities are aging, making them increasingly expensive to operate and face difficulties in retaining skilled staff.

Why it matters

To address rapid urbanisation and climate change, comply with environmental regulations and minimise public health risks, it’s important to efficiently treat and reuse wastewater and recover the valuable resources it contains. Water from WRPs can be used for irrigation, industrial processing, groundwater recharge and drinking water in the form of (in)direct potable reuse. Efficient operation reduces costs, the impact of a WWTP on receiving environments and its CO2 footprint and may enable the postponement of upgrades or building new plants.

How we can help

A cost-effective way to begin this process is to analyse existing conditions and conduct a performance and energy audit. DHI can help clients discover ways to increase capacity, reduce effluent concentrations, become an energy producer rather than consumer and recover valuable and scarce resources, leading the transition to Water Resource Recovery Facilities (WRRFs). DHI can also guide clients in establishing automated data driven operations to minimise human error risks and ensure regulatory compliance.

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Integrated solutions

Through the integration of advanced technology and decades of wastewater treatment analysis and modelling expertise, DHI offers solutions to help increase treatment capacity while reducing energy and chemical consumption. We collaborate with consultants and utilities to provide customised solutions that fit your unique process configuration and objectives.

Sustainable process design and retrofitting to improve water efficiency

Data integration to support more informed decision making

Advanced real-time control to achieve more stable plant operations

Related technology

Learn more about the technological solutions that can help you tackle your stormwater management challenges.

WWTP modelling software

WEST

Model and simulate your wastewater treatment plant to study physical, biological and / or chemical processes.

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Operational service

TwinPlant

Optimise the performance of your treatment plant with online modelling, automated data processing, & real-time control.

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Data integration and processes

DIMS.CORE

Tap into a central data repository to build custom monitoring, reporting and real-time control solutions.

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Operational decision support

MIKE OPERATIONS

Establish real-time operational systems for improved data management and decision making.

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"We chose WEST for its extensive and transparent model library and its high flexibility for developing customised models. These features allowed us to simulate complex control strategies and reproduce the real behaviour of our controller, and thus to optimise thresholds and set-points and to validate the benefits of different operating strategies."

- Marco Vian, PhD—Environmental Engineer—ETC Sustainable Solutions

Featured software subscription package

Wastewater Treatment

Develop digital twins, implement new control strategies and optimise plant operations using the open and flexible software platform, WEST+, for advanced process modelling and statistical analyses.

Client success stories

U.S. WWTP seeks 50% carbon reduction by 2025

See how a municipal wastewater utility is applying proven technology to move towards energy neutrality while preparing for more stringent nutrient discharge limits.

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Optimising carbon harvest from WWTP influents

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Reducing hydraulic loading to Rønne WWTP increases its efficiency

Learn how WEST helped quantify operational cost reduction following implementation of separate sewers

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The WWTP of Ravenna, Italy uses WWTP modelling and simulation of improve operational efficiency

Learn how WEST proved to be a reliable decision-support tool to identify the most suitable optimisation and upgrade strategies

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Aarhus Water increases efficiency, saves money and reduces environmental footprint

Learn how they optimised their system with online sensors, data processing and process control

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Luleburgaz WWTP benefits from a dynamic model proven to be more reliable in simulating the WWTP

Hear more about Lüleburgaz WWTP's success with model based design verification and optimisation using WEST for OPTIMISATION.

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The WWTP of Nîmes discovers a very intuitive means to evaluate complex scenarios

Learn more about the custom WEST graphical user interface that was created for operator training.

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Lancaster Water Reclamation Plant Funds Energy Neutrality

See how an isolated water utility in the California desert is unlocking funding for process upgrades for energy neutral operation.

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Québec City lowers chemical use in wastewater treatment

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"The process optimisation has fully met our expectations. In spite of fluctuating loads, we now see more stable operation with better effluent quality and reduced energy consumption."

- Flemming Husum, Plant Manager, Marselisborg Wastewater Treatment, Plant -Aarhus Water

Blog

One tip for an efficient wastewater treatment plant: Go digital

Today, there are 16,000 municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the US with an additional 18,000 in Europe. When you factor in the number of WWTPs in mature countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan and China, the estimated number of wastewater treatment plants worldwide is more than 50,000! Many of these treatment plants have the potential to significantly optimise their wastewater operations, increase efficiency and reduce costs – all with the help of digital solutions.

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PODCAST

Urban Water Management

Learn the latest in integrated urban water management, water quality and scarcity, aging infrastructure and more. Whether you’re in urban planning or utilities, we’ll cover the tips and tech to help you tackle it all!

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Featured training

ON-DEMAND WEBINAR

Wastewater treatment - More for less

Explore how DHI developed plant-wide models using WEST simulation software to evaluate the capacity of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Aarhus, Denmark. Faced with a host of obstacles, the WWTP needed to optimize existing infrastructure to support new inhabitants and industries. Get answers about how you too can minimise the cost of expansion.

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DHI is here to provide you with more information, answer any questions you may have, and discuss the best services and technological solutions to help you tackle your wastewater treatment challenges.

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DHI are the first people you should call when you have a tough challenge to solve in a water environment – be it a river, a reservoir, an ocean, a coastline, within a city or a factory. Our knowledge of water environments is second-to-none. It represents more than 50 years of dedicated research and real-life experience from more than 140 countries. We strive to make this knowledge globally accessible to clients and partners by channelling it through our local teams and unique software. Our world is water. So whether you need to save water, share it fairly, improve its quality, quantify its impact or manage its flow, we can help. Our knowledge, combined with our team’s expertise and the power of our technology, holds the key to unlocking the right solution.