This innovative project marked the first installation of a solar plant co-located with a wastewater utility in Alabama. It resulted in a 32% reduction in grid-purchased kWh, a $19,000 reduction in annual energy costs and a 72% reduction in effluent nitrogen.
The Hanceville Water Works and Sewer Board owns and maintains the wastewater treatment facility which serves the City of Hanceville. Following a facility upgrade the HWWSB found its monthly power costs increasing due to the addition of a new headworks process, new aerating blowers, new clarifiers, and new disinfection and post-aeration process.
The benefit of using solar panels to supplement eclectic power demand soon became apparent given the availability of the land for which the HWWSB had no plan for utilizing. With the help of GMC, a State Revolving Fund was secured from ADEM to cover costs. In addition to those financial benefits, with the solar panels in operation, the average monthly power bill greatly decreased allowing the HWWSB to invest in other improvements and more importantly benefit their customers. These significant impacts, coupled with the project being the first installation of a solar plant co-located with a wastewater utility in Alabama, earned acknowledgement by ADEM and the wastewater treatment community for being both visionary and a benchmark for reduction in energy expenditures.
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