Luncheon Description: Wastewater utilities spend a lot of time thinking about what is in the water. But what about the heat carried with it? Every day, wastewater systems move large volumes of warm water through collection systems, treatment plants, and outfalls. That heat is often treated as something to manage or discharge, especially when effluent temperature limits become a compliance driver. But under the right conditions, it can also be recovered and put to work.
Metro Water Recovery is evaluating wastewater heat recovery as part of its approach to future effluent temperature requirements, energy management, and regional decarbonization opportunities. Winter temperature limits at the Robert W. Hite Treatment Facility and Northern Treatment Plant create a substantial compliance challenge, particularly at the scale of a large regional utility. Traditional cooling approaches, such as cooling towers, may provide a path toward compliance, but they can also be expensive, energy-intensive, and difficult to align with long-term sustainability goals.
This presentation will introduce the basics of wastewater thermal energy recovery, including onsite heat recovery, sewer heat recovery, effluent heat recovery, campus energy systems, and district-scale thermal energy networks. It will also highlight Metro’s ongoing work to develop a system heat profile, evaluate recovery opportunities, and collaborate with regional partners on district thermal energy concepts.
Attendees will leave with a better understanding of why wastewater heat recovery is gaining attention, how these systems work, and what still needs to be figured out before they can move from promising concept to implementable project. The session is intended for engineers, operators, planners, and wastewater professionals interested in emerging technologies, resource recovery, energy optimization, and practical approaches to sustainable compliance.
Presenters: Blair Wisdom, Energy Manager, Metro Water Recovery
Dan Freedman, Director of Technology and Innovation, Metro Water Recovery
This month’s luncheon will be held virtually via Microsoft Teams. The presentation will begin at 12:00 p.m. Mountain Time on the date noted above.Registered attendees will receive an email the day before the luncheon containing the Teams meeting link and login information. To help ensure the best experience for all participants, please join the meeting with your microphone muted and your camera turned off. This helps minimize background noise and reduces bandwidth usage during the presentation. A Q&A session will follow the presentation. If you have a question, please post a message in the Chat window indicating that you would like to speak. Steve will call on participants in the order received. You are welcome to type your question in the Chat, or simply unmute your microphone when called upon.
A registration fee of $15 applies to all attendees. This reduced rate reflects the online format of the event. Registration and payment for TAC luncheons are handled through the TAC Registration site. Attendees may register individually or as part of a group registration. To ensure accurate attendance records and fair participation, we ask that all individuals viewing the presentation either register separately or be included in a group registration count. If you are unable to register online, please contact Steve Polson at 303-748-0931 or srpolson53@gmail.com to arrange payment by check or cash.
The registration deadline for this event is Wednesday, June 17, at close of business. Meeting links will be emailed to the addresses provided during registration by the end of the day on Wednesday. If you registered a group, please forward the meeting link to all members of your group. Please note that Microsoft Teams does not need to be installed on your computer to participate. When you click the meeting link, you will have the option to join through your web browser. A call-in number will also be provided; however, audio-only participation is not recommended unless necessary. If you register but do not receive the meeting email by Wednesday evening, please contact Steve Polson at 303-748-0931 on Thursday morning for assistance. The program will begin promptly at 12:00 p.m. Mountain Time. Please connect by noon to avoid missing any portion of the presentation.
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