AECOM and Aquatech Working in Partnership to Pioneer Innovative CASS Technology in India

AECOM’s design-build business in the UK has signed an exclusive agreement with Aquatech Systems Asia, for its biological treatment technology for industrial and municipal applications in the Indian market. Aquatech Systems Asia, based in Pune, India, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Aquatech International, USA.

“Following extensive screening of the market for the most efficient and competitive Sequence Batch Reactor (SBR) technology we have identified AECOM’s Cyclic Activated Sludge System fits our needs,” commented Devesh Sharma, Aquatech’s managing director. “We are pleased to be working with AECOM’s design-build business. With this advanced SBR technology, we will enhance our position in the Indian wastewater treatment market.”

Cyclic Activated Sludge System (CASS), an advanced Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) process, is a combination of biological selector and variable volume reactor process. The process operates with a single sludge in a single reactor basin to accomplish both biological treatment and solids-liquid separation, thereby minimising the plant footprint. CASS by design and operation is an Enhanced Biological Nutrient Removal (EBNR) process, configured to control filamentous sludge bulking. A simple repeated sequence of aeration and non-aeration is used to provide aerobic, anoxic and anaerobic process conditions, which in combination with the controlled aeration intensity, favor nitrification, denitrification and biological phosphorus removal. Each CASSTM SBR aeration basin is provided with one or more vari-skim effluent decanter constructed from stainless steel and fitted with a scum guard to discharge the clear treated effluent from the basin during the decant sequence of the process cycle.

“We are very excited about Aquatech’s capabilities and the enormous market potential for our CASS technology in India” said Malcolm Watchorn, programme manager for AECOM design-build. “Now we have found the right local partner we are looking forward to pioneering this technology together in India”.
CASS SBR technology has successfully been applied in a large number of varied industrial and municipal plants round the globe. Some of these references have capacities in excess of 150 million liters per day and have innovative constructional features. These projects underscore the superiority of this process in an impressive manner.

The two partners have already secured a major job with Aquatech recently being awarded the integrated waste treatment and recycle-reuse project at Mumbai International Airport, which will feature CASS technology.