Camden (New Jersey) Water Authority Offers Insights into Benefits of Sustainability Efforts

From treating water sludge to utilizing solar power, efforts by the Camden, New Jersey, water authority contribute to making the operation a more progressive Triple Bottom Line operation.

Water treatment is one of the major environmental issues of our time, as it contributes to our ability to maintain healthy communities, prosperous businesses, food supplies, and more—a healthy Triple Bottom Line. With variability in water supplies being caused by climate change, and water quality varying by public and private usage practices, technologies and policies play a role in maintaining stability and good quality.

The EPA highlights and supports a variety of efforts to address the challenges involved:

From Portsmouth, New Hampshire to Homer, Alaska, drinking water and wastewater utilities across the country are working with EPA to prepare for climate change. These forward-thinking utilities are following the science that shows climate change brings increased water shortages in some parts of the country, while other areas grapple with increased stormwater runoff, flooding, and sea level rise. These utilities and their surrounding communities know that these climate impacts will continue to exacerbate existing challenges to the country’s aging water infrastructure.

To meet these challenges, EPA has developed a number of tools to help utilities understand climate science and adaptation options under the Climate Ready Water Utilities initiative. We have released two new tools that promote water utility preparedness and resilience—an adaptation information exchange which offers utilities a platform to share best practices and lessons learned, and an adaptation workshop planner helps users conduct successful climate change adaptation workshops, generating materials tailored to the needs of water sector stakeholders and their communities.

By integrating water conservation and green infrastructure adaptive measures into its infrastructure investment plan, CCMUA is minimizing costs, reducing energy consumption, increasing the resiliency of its operations and protecting public health and the Delaware River from combined sewage flooding and overflows. Also, CCMUA is already saving nearly $600,000 per year in electricity costs and is expected to save close to $2 million per year in electricity costs when green energy projects are completed.

With partners like A3-USA, Inc., Professional Energy Services, and others, Team Gemini provides innovative, modular treatment technologies that are among the most efficient on the market, and help resolve issues related to various environmental issues. From Membrane Bioreactors to Ultrafiltration and Reverse Osmosis systems, these components are able to retain suspended matter, bacteria, and viruses (pathogens), and can even remove carbon, phosphorous, nitrogen, certain toxins, and bio-accumulative micro-contaminants. Featuring smaller footprints and lower maintenance requirements than traditional [municipal] wastewater treatment plants, Team Gemini and its team members offer ways to tackle pollution effectively. And with technologies for bio refineries, a comprehensive set of options is available to support new environmental protection measures while at the same time increasing resources for existing communities and industries.

We welcome you to learn more about our technology models at http://teamgemini.us/technologies/. Consider subscribing to our RSS feed or follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay in the loop about future updates.

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