Azura’s Team Plaid is had a wonderful time at the WEAO Technical Symposium & OPCEA Exhibition hosted by the Water Environment Association of Ontario (WEAO) and Ontario Water Works Association (OWWA). The event took place April 13 through 15, 2025 in London, ON and was a must attend event for all wastewater professionals. Check out the video below for Azura’s highlights from the event.
The Azura team was once again honoured to have three presentations as part of the technical agenda for this year’s conference! James, Michael, and Peter shared strategies for optimizing operations and maximizing anaerobic digester success.
Startup & Commissioning
Before a biodigester can run smoothly at steady state, it must pass through several critical milestones—from initial seeding and feeding to final acceptance testing Azura’s Optimization Lead, James Arambarri, MASc, presented “The Art of Digester Startup: Tips for Steady State Success” on Tuesday April 15. During this presentation, James shared potential pitfalls and strategies for efficiently navigating the critical startup and commissioning period.
Feedstock Pretreatment
Feedstocks come in many shapes and sizes. Azura’s Process Analysis Lead, Michael Nelson, PhD, MEng, discussed common and unusual feedstocks and their respective pre-treatment processes in his presentation “When and how to pretreat feedstocks for Anaerobic Digestion.” Attendees learned how to maximize digester performance through feedstock pre-treatment during this insightful session.
Grit
Grit accumulation in anaerobic digesters costs plant owners by reducing digester capacity and increasing equipment wear. These problems are amplified in anerobic digesters that treat “dirty feedstocks” like post-consumer food waste, OFMSW, primary sludge, and sand-laden manure. To get better data and reduce the risks associated with grit, a method is being developed to compare grit across a range of anaerobic digester feedstocks. During his presentation, “A novel method for characterizing grit in anaerobic digester feedstock,” Azura’s Bioprocess Analyst Peter Quosai, MASc, shared the principles of grit removal, the value of grit testing, and experimental validation of a novel method.
To learn more about the WEAO event please visit the conference website.