For immediate release
Clean Water Services receives incentive for energy upgrades
Durham wastewater treatment plant reduces energy use by more than 1.2 million kilowatt hours
Hillsboro, OR — February 13, 2009—
Clean Water Services’ Durham Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility in Tigard, Oregon, is operating cleaner and greener these days. Clean Water Services’ Board of Directors received an Energy Trust incentive check totaling $415,791 for energy efficiency upgrades to the facility’s newly constructed influent pump station.
As a result of these upgrades, Clean Water Services and its ratepayers are realizing annual energy savings equivalent to the electricity used by 109 average homes. Reduced energy consumption is also cutting down on carbon emissions from Clean Water Services operation equivalent to 1.4 million miles driven. Clean Water Services estimates that the annual energy savings from these upgrades will be approximately $76,750.
“Clean Water Services is focused on improving our efficiency to better serve our customers,” said Mark Poling, Wastewater Treatment Department Director, Clean Water Services. “We’ve worked closely with Portland General Electric and Energy Trust of Oregon since 2002 on a variety of projects to reduce our energy demands, boost energy efficiency and save our ratepayers money.”
Wastewater treatment is an energy-intensive operation. Nearly four percent of the nation’s electricity use goes toward moving and treating water and wastewater, according to the Electric Power Research Institute. Energy efficiency upgrades at these facilities are particularly good opportunities for communities to save energy and money, and also help the environment. Clean Water Services is PGE’s second largest customer in Washington County.
“Clean Water Services’ commitment to energy efficiency is a model for communities across the state,” said Kim Crossman, Production Efficiency program manager, Energy Trust. “More and more water districts across the state are realizing the benefits of energy efficiency upgrades that improve their operational efficiency and their bottom line.”
Technical assistance and project management expertise were provided by Energy Trust through Portland General Electric’s Customer Technical Services group.
“PGE is committed to partnering with our customers and Energy Trust in finding innovative solutions to help them reduce energy use and costs,” said Bill Nicholson, vice president of customers and economic development, Portland General Electric. “This energy efficiency project is a great example of how working together we can make a big difference for our customers and for the environment.”
The upgrades at the Durham Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility involved installing variable frequency drives on a 1,000 horsepower pump and two, 600 horsepower pumps in each of the facility’s two wet wells. The pumps are connected to a computerized facility management system. Depending on the load coming through the treatment facility at a given time, the variable frequency drives will speed up or slow down the motors to maximize energy efficiency. Previously, all pumps worked at full speed all the time, which caused the pumps to waste energy as they were doing
unnecessary work.
Related projects at the site included the installation of an air handling unit, also with variable frequency drives to keep the pump motor control room at the optimal temperature and pressure. Automated pressure sensors control return air fan speeds for the proper room pressure set point. Another variable frequency drive is used to pull odorous air from the wet wells and delivers it to a biofilter for treatment. A number of premium efficiency motors were also installed throughout the facility to maximize energy efficiency.
The total incremental cost for the upgrades at the Durham facility was $1,018,763. In addition to Energy Trust’s cash incentive, Clean Water Services also applied for a Business Energy Tax Credit through the pass-through option, provided by Oregon Department of Energy. After incentives and tax credits, the District will recover its investment cost through energy savings in four years.
Clean Water Services is a water resources management utility for more than 500,000 people in urban Washington County and small portions of Multnomah County, Clackamas County, Lake Oswego and Portland. Clean Water Services operates four wastewater treatment facilities, constructs and maintains flood management and water quality projects, and manages flow in the Tualatin River to improve water quality and protect fish habitat and leads watershed-wide water supply planning in close cooperation with other entities throughout the region. Although Clean Water Services maintains a close working relationship with Washington County government, it is a separately managed and financed public utility. For more information, visit www.cleanwaterservices.org.
Portland General Electric, headquartered in Portland, is a fully integrated electric utility that serves more than 814,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in northwest Oregon. PGE’s Customer Technical Services group works with Energy Trust’s Production Efficiency program as a Program Delivery Contractor for industrial sites throughout their service territory. For more information, visit www.portlandgeneral.com.
Energy Trust of Oregon, Inc., is a nonprofit organization dedicated to changing how Oregonians use energy by promoting energy efficiency and clean renewable energy for Oregon customers of Portland General Electric, Pacific Power, NW Natural and Cascade Natural Gas. For more information, visit the Energy Trust Web site, www.energytrust.org, or call 1-866-368-7878.
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