Italy’s second largest membrane bioreactor (MBR) entered service on 17 July 2012 following the inauguration of the upgraded wastewater treatment plant in Borghetto Santo Spirito, a town on the Ligurian coast southwest of Genoa.
The MBR plant was first constructed three years ago to initially treat 7,000 m³/d. With the new expansion, using GE ZeeWeed technology, the plant quadruples the flow and serves approximately 140,000 residents in the towns of Borghetto S Spirito, Loano, Toirano, Boissano, Balestrino and Ceriale.
The expanded plant handles a maximum wastewater flow of 35,000 m³/d. The upgrade features four ZeeWeed 500D trains, 24 cassettes and 1,152 modules.
“Our wastewater treatment plant went from simple primary treatment to advanced biological processes with membranes allowing us to reach high-level effluent quality,” said Giovanni Paganelli, CEO of Servizi Ambientali SpA. “It is located on the seacoast and discharges into a sensitive ecosystem in a tourist region.”