The Hanford Site’s critical Effluent Treatment Facility (ETF) is nearly ready to once again treat wastewater generated by numerous remediation activities.
Office of Environmental Management
November 9, 2021
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RICHLAND, Wash. – The Hanford Site’s critical Effluent Treatment Facility (ETF) is nearly ready to once again treat wastewater generated by numerous remediation activities.
EM Office of River Protection (ORP) tank operations contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) just completed a yearlong upgrade of the ETF, which will play a major role when 24/7 operations to treat tank waste begin by the end of 2023.
“ETF is essential to the success of Hanford’s waste treatment mission,” said Bibek Tamang, EM program manager for the facility. “The upgrades boost efficiency and dependability to ensure the facility can handle the increased capacity.”
Upon startup of the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, tank waste treatment and disposal operations will add up to 6.2 million gallons of hazardous and radioactive wastewater to ETF processing. Annual treatment totals in the past have varied as cleanup work has progressed, including large treatment campaigns to support the evaporation of water used to transfer tank waste.
The upgrades on the nearly 30-year-old ETF included replacing an aging monitoring and control system with one that will communicate more efficiently with other site facility systems. This communication is crucial to the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste Program, which links together highly interdependent and integrated projects in the tank waste treatment process.
Old ultraviolet oxidation units, which remove organic compounds from ETF waste, were obsolete and replacement parts were hard to come by. They were replaced with a new system vital to treating the wastewater.
“I am proud of our entire team for its tireless effort to complete these projects,” said Jim Foster, WRPS area manager for ETF. “Managing the integration of both construction and plant operations personnel in our current operations posture was challenging, and I am excited to see the team ready to begin treating wastewater again.”
ETF will begin its next wastewater processing campaign this month. One million gallons will be run through the facility over the next few months.
In the year ahead, workers will expand the ETF load-in facility, almost doubling its operating capacity by allowing for an additional tanker to be prepped for unloading while another tanker is pumped. Workers are also upgrading the motor control center, replacing outdated freeze protection systems, and installing a new wastewater filtration system that will allow continuous operation during filter backwashing.
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