Moorestown Township's Wastewater Treatment Plant

History

Moorestown Township Wastewater Treatment Plant is located at 250 Pine Street, Moorestown Twp., Burlington County, New Jersey. The plant is located in the Lenola Section of Moorestown on the banks of the South Branch of the Pennsauken Creek. Moorestown is basically a residential community of approx. 16,000.

The original sewer plant was built on the present site in the late 1920's. Upgrades of the plant were completed in 1952 and 1968. The current plant is a result of a major upgrade and renovation completed in 1992. The current plant is a computer controlled, state of the art, 3.88 million gallons a day (MGD) wastewater treatment plant.

Brief Plant Description The plant is designed to handle up to 3.88 MGD. The wastewater that flows through the plant goes through the following stages:

Preliminary Treatment: This process removes sand and large debris which could clog or damage equipment in the plant.

Primary Treatment: This is designed to remove organic and inorganic settleable solids by the physical process of sedimentation. In the primary clarifiers, heavy organic solids settle to the bottom of the tank and are removed as sludge. Oils and greases float to the surface and are removed as scum.

Aeration Basin: This is considered to be the "heart" of the facility. Here is a favorable environment for the aerobic decomposition of solids. In these large tanks, bacteria and protozoa are grown as floc in order to remove most of the dissolved pollutants in the wastewater.

Final Clarification: In these tanks, the floc from the Aeration Basins is removed from the water thus leaving a clear final effluent. The collected floc is reintroduced to the Aeration Basins.

Ultraviolet Disinfection: This process involves the use of ultraviolet lights to disinfect the final effluent which keeps any harmful bacteria from entering the Pennsauken Creek.

Anaerobic Digesters: The sludge from the bottom of the Primary Clarifiers is biologically treated in the Digesters. The digestion process produces a more environmentally beneficial product which is current used for compost. Digestion reduces the volume of sludge which in turn decreases disposal costs.