Still Expanding, L.A.'s Plant Upgrades

摘要

Not far from the Los Angeles International Airport sits the mammoth, 55-year-old Hyperion Wastewater Treatment Plant, one of the nation's largest. Originally built for secondary treatment in 1949, the facility now serves some 4 million area customers and handles 340 million gallons per day (mgd), with the capacity to treat up to 450 mgd of wastewater. In the early 1960s, Hyperion reduced secondary treatment to 120 mgd due to limited secondary capacity. In the late 1980s, the plant increased secondary treatment to 200 mgd by adding chemicals during primary treatment and by modifying its internal reactors' air system to increase oxygen transfer. After making further modifications in the late 1990s, Hyperion once again achieved full secondary treatment.