Cranberry’s Brush Creek wastewater plant has won the $50,000 Grand Prize for municipal sewage treatment facilities in a competition sponsored by Hach Company, a Colorado-based manufacturer of analytic instruments and reagents used in wastewater treatment. The prize includes $50,000 in Hach lab equipment. Results of the competition, which were based on submissions to the company’s contest, were announced at an industry conference in Los Angeles on October 18.
Entries were judged on creativity, expected results from the products requested, expected impact of the award, and the extent of need. Cranberry’s video submission, “Hach to the Future,” used a movie-themed story line in which the Brush Creek plant was transported forward and back in time as its staff professionals – playing themselves in the highly-charged drama – struggled to deal with forces that menaced its operation.
The contest, according to its sponsor, is designed to help municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants understand the benefits of increasing nutrient monitoring to optimize their nitrogen and phosphorus removal.