The City of Cocoa Beach faced a dilemma. The existing biological treatment process and equipment couldn’t meet advanced wastewater treatment criterion. It was necessary to lower nutrient levels discharged to the Banana River to comply with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations.
Our team recommended using a Moving Bed Bioreactor process. It made the most of the very tight footprint and reused existing structures. This technology, selected by very few regional facilities, achieves extremely high nutrient reduction with a relatively low retention time and volume. This process treats six million gallons per day without chemical feed. The city now adheres to the strict EPA Total Maximum Daily Load regulations.
An injection well also was constructed as part of this program. It further reduces surface water discharge to the Indian River Lagoon during wet weather. A fiber optic network provides state-of-the-art monitoring and control of the components and processes.