St. Helens, Wastewater Treatment Plant Receives State Award for Innovation and Energy Efficiency

SolarBee (USA) solar-powered mixers installed in the St. Helens, Ore., wastewater treatment plant have helped reduce aeration horsepower over 60 percent and save the city over $100,000 compared to the previous year. Because of these significant savings, the city received the Oregon Leaders Award for Industrial Energy Efficiency at the 4th Annual NW Industrial Energy Efficiency Summit in Portland in January. St. Helens was one of six organizations honored for innovation and improving efficiency.

St. Helens (population 13,000) and the town’s major industry, Boise Paper, share the wastewater treatment plant and even the EPA-required NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permit along with it. The two organizations work together closely to meet mutual goals, the main one being to operate the plant as effectively and cost-efficiently as possible.

Toward this goal, a recent project to reduce the cost of aeration in the 42-acre secondary lagoon led to the installation of solar-powered, long-distance circulation mixers from SolarBee, Inc. The city and the mill not only cut their energy costs, but the project also qualified for a $70,000 rebate from their serving electric utility, Columbia River PUD, with support from the Bonneville Power Administration’s Energy Smart Industrial (ESI) program.