“…Aeration is an essential operation in water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) and is the main contributor to plant power demand, dominating the process energy requirements with the exclusion of site‐specific pumping (Garrido‐Baserba et al., 2017; Rosso & Shaw, 2015; Rosso & Stenstrom, 2006; WEF, 2009). The oxygen transfer efficiency decreases from its clean water value (SOTE, %) to process conditions (αSOTE, %) because of the loading conditions, among other co‐related factors (i.e., surfactants and process characteristics), and this decrease is quantified through the alpha‐factor (ASCE, 2007; Jiang et al., 2017; Metcalf & Eddy, 2014; Stenstrom & Gilbert, 1981; Manual, US EPA, 1989). Any effort to divert load from the secondary treatment would result in the beneficial reduction of plant energy usage (Gori et al., 2013; Rahman et al., 2017).…”