The Opportunity:
Wastewater treatment plants rely on complex biological processes to maintain compliance and protect the environment. Yet the biological systems responsible for treatment performance remain largely invisible in real time.
Most operational decisions still rely on laboratory measurements that can take two to five days to produce results. This creates a significant operational blind spot. By the time operators understand how the biological system has responded to changing conditions, the opportunity to optimize the process has already passed.
At the same time utilities face increasing operational pressures:
Sector Pressure:
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Rising energy costs and considerations about stability of supply requires efficiency
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Increasing compliance expectations
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Net zero commitments
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Ageing infrastructure
Real-Time Biological Monitoring:
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Aeration alone can account for approximately 60% of treatment plant energy use
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Less tolerance for performance instability
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Pressure to reduce operational emissions
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Need to extract more capacity from existing assets
Research indicates that improving biological process control could reduce energy use in activated sludge plants by more than 20 per cent while also lowering carbon emissions associated with treatment.