Engineered wetland for benzene removal under construction at a former BP refinery in Casper, Wyoming.
VADNAIS HEIGHTS, MN, July 14, 2010 -- Petroleum producers faced with the challenge of remediating hydrocarbon contaminated sites regularly turn to Naturally Wallace Consulting (NWC) to solve this difficult challenge. NWC is the world leader in the design and construction of treatment wetlands for on-site bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated water.
"Utilizing engineered treatment wetlands, what was once an industrial brownfield can be converted to a world-class golf course, a park, and commercial office or light industrial space," comments Scott Wallace, PE, president of NWC.
Unlike a typical surface water wetland, an engineered wetland incorporates a horizontal subsurface flow gravel bed reactor, lined with an impermeable liner and equipped with a Forced Bed Aeration™ system to enhance oxygen delivery to the aerobic microorganisms in the engineered wetland. Design parameters include biodegradation rate coefficients for petroleum hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX), flowrate, hydraulic residence time, and influent and required effluent concentrations. Naturally Wallace holds several patents for Forced Bed AerationTM in horizontal and vertical treatment wetlands.
Treatment wetland systems are being used everywhere from the equator to the arctic to solve a variety of industrial wastewater challenges in addition to remediation of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated sites. Because treatment wetland systems can be constructed using local materials, there is no economic barrier to their implementation and they offer a low carbon footprint as compared to conventional mechanical treatment systems.
About Naturally Wallace Consulting
NWC works with the environment to treat unique and complex wastewater streams and is the premier treatment wetland consulting firm in the world. With treatment wetlands and NWC's patented Forced-bed AerationTM technology at the core, the firm pushes the boundaries of "ecological engineering" to design long-term solutions for the most complex wastewater challenges that combine the science of natural systems with advanced engineering practices.
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