South River Water Reclamation Center
Drinking Water Service Area
About South River Water Reclamation Center
The City of Atlanta has three water reclamation centers with a combined treatment capacity of 222 million gallons per day (MGD); 188 MGD of wastewater is treated each day within City limits.
South River Water Reclamation Center (WRC), built in 1936, has a permitted treatment capacity of 48 million gallons per day (MGD), and provides wastewater treatment for Hapeville, portions of Atlanta, East Point, College Park, and parts of Dekalb County and Clayton County. The South River WRC
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Intrenchment Creek facility which serves portions of Atlanta and a small portion of DeKalb County.
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wastewater, from the combined stormwater and
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are also stored and conveyed to the South River WRC through a deep rock tunnel system that is pumped to
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located at the WRC. Subsequently, the treated water is returned to the Chattahoochee River via the Three Rivers Tunnel at a higher quality than the raw water in the river.
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Long Island Creek RM Clayton
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RM Clayton WRC 75
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Proctor Creek
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South River WRC
Camp Creek
Aerial view of South River WRC Facilities
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East Area WQCF (former Intrenchment Creek WRC) 42
South River
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Construction of Atlanta’s sewer system began in the late 1800’s. By 1880, there were 8 miles of stone, masonry and small pipe sewers ranging in size from 12-inches to 6-feet in diameter. In 1910, $1.35 million in bonds was issued to construct three sewage treatment plants: Proctor Creek, Peachtree Creek and Intrenchment Creek. Between 1932-1945, Utoy Creek, South River and RM Clayton were constructed, with Proctor and Peachtree Creek plants becoming decommissioned. The South River WRC has undergone multiple upgrades and expansions over the past 80+ years.
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(UV) disinfection and post aeration. Throughout the upgrades and expansion, the existing WRC remained operational. In subsequent years, many of the pumps have been upgraded with variable frequency drive (VFD) technology, and in 2015, improvements were
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Intrenchment Creek 28 154
to the Chattahoochee River were installed. Upgrades and improvements completed in 2000 featured new screening and grit removal facilities to reduce negative effects to the downstream wastewater treatment processes and improved operational reliability, which avoided violations of the City’s wastewater discharge permit. The project also included upgrades to the primary sludge pumping system, conversion of the existing aeration tanks to
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Utoy Creek
mechanically aerated activated sludge basins, new
requirements of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. In addition, the South River WRC is part of the $36.2 million Schneider Guaranteed Energy Savings Performance Contract,
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ATL ANTA
Utoy Creek WRC
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South River WRC Treatment Process Electrical Panel
Water Reclamation Center Water Reclamation Center (Outside City)
that increased the WRC capacity to 48 MGD. The expansion also included diversion of Intrenchment address new environmental regulations. Additionally,
South River WRC Aeration Basin
which consists of seventeen energy conservation measures for the South River WRC, other Department of Watershed Management facilities and overall water distribution system. The project includes improvements to two of the South River WRC anaerobic digesters.
South River Water Treatment Plant Filtration Process
Sou th R iver Tun nel
BAR SCREENS
PRIMARY CLARIFIER
AERATION BASINS
Filter out rags, sticks and other large items.
Allows heavier particles to settle; and oils, grease and lighter particles to float.
Air is pumped through the wastewater to promote microorganism growth. The bugs “eat” the particles left after primary clarification.
Headworks Bar screens (x3) Grit removal tanks (x2) Drum screens (x2)
Primary Sludge Scum Aeration Basins (x4)
Primary Clarifier (x8) Grit & Trash to Landfill
Primary Sludge
Fine sand Sand Gravel
Three Rivers Tunnel
UV Disinfection Units (x3)
Secondary Clarifiers (x6)
Effluent Filtration Basins (x12)
POST AERATION
UV DISINFECTION
EFFLUENT FILTRATION BASINS
Ensures that an adequate amount of dissolved oxygen is in the effluent prior to discharge into the river.
Ultraviolet light which kills disease-causing organisms.
Removes any final particles left after secondary clarification.
Waste Activated Sludge
Chattahoochee River
Post Aeration Basins (x2)
Thickening Centrifuges (x2)
Sludge to Land Application
Lime Stabilization
Dewatering Centrifuges (x3)
Anaerobic Digesters (x2)
South River Water Reclamation Center – Treatment Process The South River Water Reclamation Center (WRC) provides wastewater treatment for the wastewater service area that encompasses Hapeville and portions of Atlanta, East Point, College Park, DeKalb County and Clayton County. The South River WRC also treats partially treated effluent from the former Intrenchment Creek facility which serves portions of Atlanta and a small portion of DeKalb County. Intrenchment Creek sends partially treated effluent to the South River WRC where it receives further treatment. The South River WRC has a permitted treatment capacity of 48 MGD including the treated flow from Intrenchment Creek. South River WRC employs primary, secondary, and tertiary processes for treating the wastewater. Influent flow is received from the South River WRC ervice Area. At the primary treatment stage, wastewater from the South River service area passes through mechanically cleaned bar screens, fine mesh rotatory drum screens, and grit collectors also known as the headworks to remove trash, sand, rock, and other items that can damage the downstream treatment units. The screened wastewater flows into the north and south primary clarifiers. There are four 11-ft primary clarifiers in the north section and four 12-ft primary clarifiers in the south section. At this stage, settleable and floatable solids are removed from the wastewater. In the secondary treatment, the wastewater from the primary clarifiers flows into 4 aeration basins/ biological nutrient removal tanks (BNR), where a biological treatment called the activated sludge process occurs. Sludge is a thick, soft substance with a mud-like consistency, and activated sludge is used to remove pollutants from wastewater by a biological reaction involving wastewater. The aeration basins are equipped with a fine bubble aeration system which provides and environment for the microorganism (referred to as bugs) to thrive and multiply. These bugs “eat” the organic waste in the wastewater and once the food/waste is gone, the treated water flows into the six secondary clarifiers. At this stage, the activated sludge is removed from the wastewater using scraper type sludge collection mechanisms. In the tertiary treatment, treated wastewater from former Intrenchment Creek WRC and South River’s secondary treatment are combined and treated in twelve deep bed granular media filters to remove floating solids and remaining phosphorus from the wastewater. The granular media filters are
made up of a mixture of fine sand, coarse sand, and gravel, and layers are typically 2-6 ft deep. After filtration, a chemical polymer is added to cause any remaining floating solids to clump together. The filtered water is then disinfected in three ultraviolet (UV) radiation channels to reduce the diseasecausing organisms and ready the treated water for entry to the Chattahoochee River. More oxygen is added to the treated water in a post aeration process, which ensures that an adequate amount of dissolved oxygen is present in the treated water before it enters the river. The treated water is conveyed to the Chattahoochee River for discharge via the 10-foot diameter, Three Rivers Tunnel. In the future, the facilities at Intrenchment Creek will be fully decommissioned and the wastewater will be sent directly to South River WRC for treatment. In addition to the treatment of the liquid stream, South River WRC treats its solid stream. The trash collected from the headworks is hauled to a landfill. The sludge from the primary clarifiers (primary sludge) is collected and sent into the anaerobic digesters. The digestion process stabilizes the sludge and reduces the volatile solids and pathogens by using anaerobic (without oxygen) microorganisms (bugs) to convert organic matter into carbon dioxide, methane, water, and non-degradable solids. Sludge from the secondary clarifiers (waste activated sludge) is sent to two thickening centrifuges where the sludge is dewatered and leftover waste is sent to the two anaerobic digesters. The centrifuges employ a highspeed process that uses the force from rapid rotation of a cylindrical bowl to separate wastewater solids (sludge) from liquid. From the anaerobic digesters, sludge is sent to three dewatering centrifuges. The dewatering removes more water and produces a drier material referred to as “cake.” After the dewatering centrifuges, any liquid is sent back to the plant’s headworks and the dewatered sludge “cake” is treated with lime stabilization and hauled for land application.
Fun Facts
Awards
Atlanta has approximately miles of sewer lines in the wastewater system
2,150
Atlanta has approximately manholes in the wastewater system
47,327
There are approximately retail wastewater services accounts
94,000
188M
Approximately gallons of wastewater is treated each day at three water reclamation centers
Tours One-hour guided, walking tours are offered at the South River WRC that provide guests a behind-the scenes look at the wastewater treatment process, the plant’s unique story, and how wastewater travels through the facility and is discharged into the Chattahoochee River. Contact our office to schedule a tour today! Please email us at dwmcommunications@atlantaga.gov. Include the following information in your email: Name of school/program/organization, contact person name and phone number, tour date, tour time, name of plant to be toured.
Innovations South River WRC Filter Backwash Basins
System Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system upgrades are ongoing to increase the number of processes that can be automated at the South River WRC.
Georgia Association of Water Proessionals (GAWP) •
2019 Safety Award
SCAN HERE TO VISIT US ONLINE!
Thinking about becoming a wastewater treatment plant operator? The State of Georgia requires the following for an operator to become certified: • Take and pass an exam that demonstrates that the applicant has the necessary skills, knowledge, ability and judgment as appropriate for the classification
DEPARTMENT OF WATERSHED MANAGEMENT ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES
• Have a high school diploma or a general equivalency diploma (GED)
72 Marietta Street, NW Atlanta, GA 30303 Mon-Fri – 8:15 am to 5:00 pm atlantawatershed.org
• Have the defined minimum amount of on-the-job experience for each appropriate level of classification.