A winery facility located in King City, CA in Monterey County has a high strength wastewater application. The facility processes over 2 million gallons of product a year and the wastewater from this process is treated with an extended aeration lagoon system. The flows to the lagoons spike dramatically during harvest season, which typically runs September through November, where the demand on the wastewater treatment system can increase by as much as 60%. Therefore, the target blower system was required to have the ability to turn down when the treatment demand was reduced.

With seasonal demands, Inovair blowers have the ability to turn down while maintaining efficiency, affording the winery energy savings across the wide air flow range. Two stacked IM-30s were selected for this project, for a total of four (4) blowers. Three (3) blowers provide process air for the aeration system, and one (1) blower is dedicated to lagoon #2. When demand is low, blower units can be turned off completely, allowing the blowers in operation to function at peak efficiency.

The treatment process at this King City winery consists of two lagoons in series. The first lagoon, with a 14.5 ft side water depth (SWD), is where the majority of the treatment takes place. The influent from the facility runs through a rotary screen before entering the first lagoon. A return active sludge (RAS) line discharges near the influent entering the lagoon. The wastewater is treated with a fine bubble aeration system before entering a second lagoon. The second lagoon acts as a polishing basin with a SWD of 10 ft. The wastewater is again treated with a fine bubble aeration system. The RAS is collected at the end of the process and returned to the front of the plant.

Based on this layout, the winery facility needed a blower solution that could be located outside, next to the basins, without a cover and without being a noise nuisance.

Additional realized costs savings came from being able to locate the blowers outside, alongside the basins. The need for a blower building was eliminated, as was the need for long runs of piping to connect the process air to the aeration system, which dramatically reduced the construction costs associated with the earth work, foundations, and engineering required for such a building or piping. The Inovair blower units also offered smoother, quieter operating noise levels than competing products, reducing safety concerns.

Another example of how Inovair’s cutting-edge efficiency and flexibility, along with the low acquisition and construction costs, have allowed a plant to reliably and efficiently run its wastewater treatment process is a digester application at Valley Center, CA. Inovair IO Blower was selected to provide a solution to a digester process that required the blowers to operate with changing pressures as the water level varied from 8 ft to 24 ft with daily blower starts/stops. To make the application even more challenging, the plant had limited footprint available for the blowers.

Meeting all of the requirements of the process, the Inovair IO Blower package has been operating for over ten (10) years, proving that it is not only robust but also efficient, reducing both maintenance and operational costs.

Inovair is the only manufacturer of single stage centrifugal blowers and compressors that performs all of its manufacturing activities in the USA. All Inovair products are invented, engineered, machined, assembled and tested at Inovair’s facilities in Kansas City. If you have a wastewater treatment project on the horizon and are interested in "Buy America, Build America" (BABA) funding, check out the information and resources on the Inovair BABA webpage.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions on BABA or how Inovair complies to BABA requirements.

EPA Build America, Buy America Act (BABA) Implementation Seminar

EPA Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA)

EPA Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF)