Indigo — Blythe, California
The Blythe WWTP is a 1.5 MGD plant using an undersized aerobic digester. Due to the limited capacity of their digester (90,000 gallons) they were forced to move waste to drying beds daily to make room for the incoming sludge. They were in desperate need of a new digester when before using Indigo in September of 2002.
The information contained below provides an overview of the Blythe facility and how Indigo transformed a 90,000 gallon tank from a 24 hour holding bin to an aerobic digester.
Sludge handling process prior to using Indigo
• WAS (Waste Activated Sludge) is routed to a clarifier and thickened to .6% to
.9% solids.
• WAS is transferred to aerobic digester aerated for approximately 20 hours
• WAS is transferred to drying beds daily.
Sludge handling process with Indigo
• WAS is routed to a clarifier and thickened to .6% to .9% solids.
• WAS is transferred to aerobic digester aerated for approximately 16 hours
• Clear water is decanted daily making room for incoming sludge
• WAS is transferred to drying once per week.
The initial inoculation of Indigo was 50 PPM to condition the digester, after some experimentation
during the first month they settled on a sustained dosage of 16.72 PPM
(approximately 2 quarts per day) simply poured into their aerobic digester.
Financial Impact: Blythe has not yet calculated the net savings realized by using INDIGO™ but have identified savings in the following areas that will more than off set
the cost of the product:
• Capital improvements (need for a larger digester)
• Labor costs for sludge handling
• Hauling costs
• State required lab tests on composted sludge
• Electrical power (blower time in digester reduced 20%)
Blythe, California — Settling and Decanting
Blythe, California — Settling and Decanting
Blythe, California — Bio-Solid Reduction
