Rahway Valley Sewerage Authority: Rahway, New Jersey

I work for Rahway Valley Sewerage Authority which owns and operates a 40 MGD wastewater treatment facility that treats wastewaters from municipalities in Central New Jersey. Several years ago the Authority purchased a respirometer with the intent of using it to identify toxic or inhibitory discharges. Initial attempts at using the respirometer for this purpose provided limited success mainly due to the variability in testing procedures followed and the difficulty in interpreting results.

PMC BioTec was recommended to the Authority by an independent consultant as experts in the use of respirometry for biological wastewater treatment evaluation. PMC BioTec trained our personnel in the proper use of the respirometer for evaluating potential inhibitory wastewaters. They worked closely with our personnel during the setup, generation and interpretation of results for multiple respirometer tests which targeted suspected inhibitory streams. PMC BioTec also developed a training manual which summarized the procedures and results for the various respirometer tests performed. This manual will be used in the future as a standard template for respirometer evaluations.

Anthony Gencarelli
Manager of Research and Regulations