Screw Blower Delivers Energy Savings for Port Washington Wastewater Treatment Facility
The municipal wastewater treatment plant in Port Washington, Wisconsin, is located on the picturesque shore of Lake Michigan, so it’s essential that their plant performs as designed.
“We have our beach, our marina, fishing, and we also take a lot of drinking water out of the lake,” said Dan Buehler, Superintendent of the City of Port Washington WWTP. “We take great pride in providing this service to the community and residents.”
Over 500 million gallons of wastewater is processed through this plant every year. Providing the air for the aeration tank is an Atlas Copco ZS 110+ VSD screw blower that the facility has had for eight years. “It’s very critical that we have a blower that operates 24/7 without failure, and that is exactly what the Atlas Copco blower has provided,” Buehler explained. “When we researched blowers it was a long process. We were kind of leaning in the direction of getting a tri-lobe blower. Then I talked to another community that was also investigating getting another blower and they were leaning toward new screw blower technology. The nice thing about screw blower technology is it’s very efficient from low speed to high speed, across the whole width of the curve.”
John Conover, Low Pressure National Sales Manager for Atlas Copco, explained that Atlas Copco builds all compression technologies that are typically used in wastewater treatment. “The screw fits best for the Port Washington application because it provides the range, efficiency and reliability that their process requires,” he said. “Our one new machine replaced the capacity of their two old machines, with a wider operating range than they were able to achieve before.”
That wider operating range continues to deliver energy savings. “Over the eight year period, this blower has saved us over $190,000,” said Buehler. Their Atlas Copco ZS 110+ VSD blower has been in operation for more than 64,000 hours with zero unplanned downtime.
Steve Exner, Service Technician for Atlas Copco, provided the commissioning service for the blower is still the technician Dan Buehler calls on to do health checks on the equipment. “Dan and I have been in constant communication for that period of time and really most of their guys do everything in house.”
“This plant just cannot run without reliable blower technology,” said Buehler. “And that’s exactly what this Atlas Copco blower provides.”
With Atlas Copco’s ZS 110+ VSD screw blower, Port Washington WWTP enjoys key advantages:
- • More than 8 years – 64,000 hours – in operation with zero unplanned downtime
• Over 40% energy savings compared to lobe
• Over $190,000 in energy savings over 8 years
• Customized service plans: annual inspections, parts only, extended warranties, or total responsibility
• SMARTLink 24/7 remote monitoring
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