TREVOSE, Pa. —The city of North Las Vegas, Nevada, used GE’s membrane reactor technology for an upgrade to its wastewater treatment plant, according to a press release.
The LEAPmbr system is expected to reduce membrane scour energy costs by 29 percent, noted the release. The facility is one of the largest in the U.S. and treats wastewater for more than 300,000 residents.
North Las Vegas built the plant in 2012 to end its reliance on water from the city of Las Vegas, stated the release. The upgrade is meant to provide high-quality treatment "while reducing energy and maintenance costs and increasing productivity."
"Environmental and economic concerns led us to upgrade our wastewater treatment plant with GE’s LEAPmbr technology, which provided us with a more energy-efficient and cost-effective way to operate our facility," said Dave Commons, water reclamation facility administrator for North Las Vegas, in the release. "The retrofit will give us a 29 percent energy reduction on membrane aeration and will save more than $100,000 per year in energy and maintenance costs."
In addition to reducing membrane air scour costs, GE’s technology essentially eliminates cyclic valve maintenance, reported the release. The plant’s SCADA system allows it to be controlled remotely and have minimal staffing.
GE retrofitted existing membrane cassettes specifically for the project, shared the release, so the originally installed membranes would last for the full life cycles.
You can find the entire release here.