This joint WEF/WERF webcast will discuss a recent WERF study that sought to find the answers to the following questions:

What are the economic impacts of co-digestion on the operation of a water resource recovery facility (WRRF)?
How much additional biogas will be produced from adding different organic wastes?
What is the allowable organic loading rate for stable digestion?
What fraction of the digester loading can be from fats, oils, and grease (FOG)?
The research furthers our understanding of co-digestion of organic waste with wastewater solids, quantifies the benefits of co-digestion, and provides answers to key questions to help overcome barriers associated with greater implementation of co-digestion programs at municipal WRRFs. The practice of adding waste organic feedstock directly to anaerobic digesters is becoming an attractive way for utilities to generate revenue from tipping fees while boosting biogas production. However, the practice is only used by about 20% of WRRFs with AD due to the uncertainty on how to proceed without causing digester upset. The speakers will discuss the lab, pilot-scale, and study of a full-scale facility, as well as an excel-based economic model that utilities can use to determine an appropriate tipping fee for handling this waste in the digesters.