Energy Plan for Metropolitan Milwaukee Sewerage District Facilities

The Metropolitan Milwaukee Sewerage District (MMSD) is a nationally recognized leader in water conservation and wastewater treatment demonstrated by establishing, adapting, and evolving its commitment for efficiency, innovation, and sustainability. Previously, the District developed its 2035 Vision and Strategic Objectives focused on two key elements: Integrated Watershed Management and Climate Change Mitigation with an emphasis on Energy Efficiency. MMSD believes that becoming more efficient and renewable will help MMSD adapt to rapid climate change, therefore a progressive update of its 2015 Energy Plan and adaptation to newer and more stringent sustainability goals is a priority. This Plan entails revisiting and updating MMSD’s 2015 Energy Plan to meet its strategic goals while including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals related to energy conservation, MMSD 2050 Facilities Plan and the Biosolids Advanced Facility Plan. Greeley and Hansen performed power utilization and generation analyses at the Jones Island and South Shore water reclamation facilities, the conveyance system, and the administration facilities. Opportunities for energy conservation have been identified to target the following goals: 100% of energy needs with renewable sources, 80% of energy needs with internal renewable sources, and 90% carbon footprint reduction from MMSD’s 2005 baseline. 

Energy reduction measures are being evaluated to determine which process improvements can be made or new technologies that can be incorporated to reduce energy consumption. Examples include aeration process improvements, solids processing improvements, lighting improvements, increasing gas production, and more. Energy monitoring is a crucial component in confirming energy production and savings are being realized. Finally, an evaluation for future energy profile was performed so that when MMSD can generate more renewable energy than its minimum demand, energy storage techniques can be implemented to offset periods of high demand. 

Project Highlights: 

• Developed system-wide holistic energy plan. 

• We evaluated both energy reduction measures to identify process improvements and new technologies to implement to reduce energy consumption. 

• We identified opportunities to reduce the carbon footprint and provide energy reduction.