Today many wastewater treatment facilities are being expanded to provide additional capacity because of
increased flow and organic loading. Often these facilities have limited space due to encroaching
development. As a result, processes continue to be developed to address the site constraints faced by
municipal and industrial wastewater treatment facilities. One of these processes is activated sludge with
suspended fixed-film packing, such as the Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR).
MBBRs incorporate benefits provided by both fixed film and activated sludge processes. The MBBR
process is a continuous flow process which uses small high density polyethylene (HDPE) carrier elements
to provide sites for active bacteria attachment in a suspended growth medium. This allows a higher
concentration of active biomass to be maintained in the reactor for biological treatment without increasing
the reactor size. The result is more treatment capacity within a given reactor volume, resulting in a smaller
footprint compared to a conventional activated sludge process. In addition, unlike the conventional
activated sludge process MBBRs do not require return activated sludge pumping.
Talecris Biotherapeutics located in Clayton, North Carolina is a pharmaceutical production facility which
manufactures plasma products for the health industry. The original pretreatment facility included an
aerobic lagoon with solids recycle for treating the wastewater from the production processes before
discharging the treated effluent to the Town of Clayton’s wastewater collection system. The wastewater
treatment facility consisted of a macerator equipped with a screening auger, two above ground
equalization basins, an earthen aerated lagoon, two secondary clarifiers, and an aerated sludge holding
basin. The facility uses a contract hauler for disposal of the waste activated sludge.