Wastewater Treatment Plant Amsterdam West: New, Large, High-Tech and Sustainable

Abstract

This paper presents the new wastewater treatment plant Amsterdam West: a high-technology and sustainable wastewater treatment plant with a biological capacity of 1.0 million population equivalents. The design is based on the modified UCT process. Due to the limited space, deep activated sludge tanks (8.2 m) and secondary sedimentation tanks (side depth 3.45 m) are applied. The WWTP Amsterdam West was constructed within a period of app. 27 months and started-up in three months. The WWTP Amsterdam West operates well and produces a high-quality effluent, with yearly average concentrations of 6.7 mg Ntotal /l and 0.8 mg Ptotal/l. Biogas and sludge are combusted with high-rate energy retrieval at the nearby Waste and Energy Enterprise Amsterdam.

Retrospective Analysis of Water Management in Amsterdam, The Netherlands

“…By 2005, a new project started as the WWTPs in the east and the south no longer complied with the requirements of Dutch and European legislation and regulations [30]. The regional water authority Amstel, Gooi, and Vecht (AGV) and the municipality decided to build a new centralised WWTP in the Amsterdam West Port Area [31]. The new WWTP applied advanced technologies, resulting in high-quality effluents water.…”

“…More specifically, the treatment process removed nutrients at minimal chemical input and energy use. Furthermore, the energy content of the sludge and biogas was utilised by the Waste and Energy Enterprise (WEE) or AEB of the city [31]. This project was one of the largest infrastructure projects in Amsterdam in recent decades.…”

“…Throughout the centuries, waste processing in Amsterdam followed a pattern of outsourcing and 'do it yourself' [31]. In 1673, the management of solid waste passed to the regents of the poor chapel orphanage, a semi-governmental institution.…”

A two-step approach to hydrothermal gasification

“…In comparison, options A1 and B1 that utilise only a Pt catalyst show a 95 % carbon gasification which results in an aqueous effluent with 2 -3 g carbon per litre water (COD: 6 -7 g L -1 ). This is orders of magnitude above the effluent discharge standards of 125 mg L -1 compliant with the EU [134]. For the Pt followed by Ru case the gasification is essentially complete and an effluent is obtained that complies with the COD discharge standards.…”

“…The potential of stabilisation is the focus of the first part of this chapter in which a comparative study between the hydrothermal gasification of carbohydrates (sucrose and starch) and stabilised carbohydrates (Refer Chapter 2) is conducted. The complete gasification of the stabilised mixture is targeted in order to obtain a dischargeable water stream (COD < 125 mg L -1 water [134]) along with valuable gas products (H 2 and CH 4 ).…”