Severe storms and hurricanes can cause widespread devastation—damaging infrastructure, displacing employees, and disrupting operations. For industrial facilities with wastewater treatment systems, these weather events often lead to flooding, washouts, and critical system upsets that can threaten compliance and delay the return to normal production.
In one such case, a Gulf Coast client experienced significant flooding following a major storm, resulting in the loss of biomass in their aerated stabilization basin (ASB). With rivers swelling and treatment areas submerged, the biological system was effectively flushed out, leaving the facility unable to resume operations until treatment could be restored.
During this time, many of the client’s employees were displaced from their homes and work. EBS was able to deploy consultants to the client site and provide round-the-clock coverage to assist in restoring the health of the biological system and ensure the entire wastewater treatment system was ready for production to commence.
To accelerate recovery, we delivered and operated an on-site Bacterial Acceleration Chamber (BAC Unit) and began feeding supplemental bacteria on day one. Along with supplying bioaugmentation and related equipment, EBS relied on the eight growth pressures to determine which actions needed to be addressed to restore the ASB’s health. Service visits were conducted for seven consecutive days with samples collected at key locations and analyzed for as many of the eight growth pressures as possible. These include pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature, nutrient residuals (ammonia and phosphorus), BOD loading, retention time, toxic or inhibitory compounds, and viability of the bacteria. Data from the daily service visits provided valuable insight into how well the system was recovering and whether the system would be able to respond adequately once production resumed.
With the help of our client, EBS was able to successfully restore the health of the system in time for the planned date to resume normal operation and production. Throughout our time on site, two of the EBS core values were on display with “responding at the speed of sound” and “calm in the middle of the storm” exhibited firsthand in this situation.
If your wastewater system ever faces unexpected disruption—whether from weather, operational upsets, or other emergencies—EBS is here to help you recover quickly and effectively.
Contact us at info@ebsbiowizard.com or 985-674-0660 to learn more about our emergency response services.