AWWA MTC61194

The Traverse City (Michigan) Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant has been successfully converted from a conventional plant into a membrane bioreactor-based facility, and commissioning has commenced. At current flows, and at design flows, the plant is the largest Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) facility in North America. In addition to being notable because of the size of the plant (32,000 m3/day, 8.5 mgd, during the maximum month) and the many design innovations incorporated into this major upgrade project, the project can also be evaluated as a case study for the use of sustainability criteria for the evaluation and selection of project alternatives. The recent expansion of the Traverse City (Michigan) Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant involved three project challenges: a capacity expansion of 40%, a desire by the community to adopt the principles of sustainable development for planning and decision-making, and a severely restricted existing site. Includes 3 references, figures.