shifting to new technology in an old regulatory world
TRANSCRIPT
Shifting to New Technologyin an Old Regulatory World
Two Controlling Factors in Technology Advance
The S-Curve PhenomenaThe Scientific Hubris Conundrum
The S-Curve
Waste Water Treatment Technology Advance
Primary Treatment Removal Efficiency
90-95% settleable solids 40-60% suspended solids 30-40% Biological Oxygen Demand 18% Nutrients removal
Secondary Treatment Removal Efficiency
70% Biological Oxygen Demand 75% Chemical Oxygen Demand 1% Nutrients removal
Tertiary Treatment Removal Efficiency
30 – 75% Nutrients removal Massively Expensive Difficult to operate
Cost-Efficient Alternatives to Tertiary Treatment
Will require Reassessment of the Pollution Control Mentality
EPA Standards reflect a static assumption about “Assimilative Capacity”
It is possible to increase assimilative capacity
Shift to a Diatom Ecology
Nutrients Oxygen released
Blooms
Death
Diatoms
Blue-Green
Zooplankton
Oxygen consumed
Dead Zone
What nutrients do algae need?
DiatomsBlue-Green
NitrogenPhosphorus
NitrogenPhosphorusSiliconIronOthers
The Alternative to Tertiary Treatment
“Rather than considering treatment procedures which remove the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus from a sewage discharge
July 31, 1980
one might consider the addition, if feasible, of silica in quantity at the discharge site
to alter the receiving waters to a diatom population and a consequent fertile and productive region.”
To Accomplish a Paradigm Shift to a New Technology
Research, test and demand use of the new paradigm
Contact Information:
David W. Schnare, Esq. Ph.D.General CounselEnergy & Environment Legal Institute722 12th St. NW (4th Floor)Washington, D.C. [email protected]