The Water and Wastewater Treatability Laboratory (WWTL) offers bench- and pilot-scale testing and evaluation of a variety of unit operations and processes for the treatment of wastewaters, contaminated groundwaters, and soils. These include the use of physical, chemical, and/or biological methods for the evaluation of established treatment technologies, as well as the development of innovative treatment technologies. WWTL and other EERC personnel also provide technical support and evaluation of client technologies, assisting in continued development and demonstration for commercialization.

Laboratory Services

Bench- and/or pilot-scale facilities are available for the evaluation of the following:

• Air stripping
• Steam stripping
• Solvent extraction
• Activated sludge variations
• Rotating biological contactors
• Innovative biological treatment systems
• Anaerobic treatment systems
• Cooling towers
• Activated carbon adsorption
• Ion exchange
• Ultrafiltration and other filtration variations
• Ozonation
• Chemical precipitation

These processes and operations can be evaluated as individual components or as fully integrated treatment systems. The WWTL is complemented by analytical support from the Analytical Research Laboratory and microbiological analytical support from the Environmental Microbiology Laboratory. Additionally, specialized equipment, such as modular pilot plants, can be designed and fabricated in the EERC machine shop for use in the simulation of large-scale process evaluation and data collection, which are essential for process development and troubleshooting.