Wastewater Treatment Improvements in Hooper Bay, Alaska

摘要

Hooper Bay is a relatively large Yupik Eskimo community of approximately 1,137 residents located in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, on the west coast of Alaska. As the population of Hooper Bay grows and more customers are connected to the new water and sewer system, wastewater loading on the existing treatment lagoon will increase significantly. This increase in loading has the potential to go beyond the hydraulic and organic capacity of Hooper Bay's existing lagoon in its current configuration. The implementation of wastewater treatment improvements in cold region communities, such as Hooper Bay, presents a number of challenges in terms of design, construction, operation, and maintenance due to the arctic nature of the territory. A review of literature specific to cold regions engineering produced a set of design criteria that was used to evaluate the current capacity and future wastewater treatment needs of the community. An analysis of the existing wastewater treatment lagoon confirmed that the existing lagoon does not have the hydraulic or organic capacity to meet Hooper Bay's needs for a 30-year design life, and therefore wastewater treatment system improvements are required. Following an extensive examination of feasible alternatives, converting the existing system into a multi-cell, facultative wastewater treatment lagoon with settling tanks is the recommended alternative for Hooper Bay's wastewater treatment improvements. This alternative is reliable and less expensive to construct, operate, and maintain that other alternatives. Most importantly, it meets the hydraulic and organic loading requirements for the 30-year design life.