NEW Water, the brand of the Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District, is a water resource utility that has proudly served Northeast Wisconsin since December 4, 1931.

Perched at the edge of the Great Lakes in Green Bay, Wisconsin, NEW Water is a single-purpose government utility that reclaims water and promotes pollution prevention and water conservation. NEW Water owns and operates two wastewater treatment facilities in Green Bay and De Pere, WI. NEW Water is a wholesale provider of services to 15 municipal customers, serving more than 236,000 residents in a 285-square-mile area. NEW Water collects and treats an average of 38 million gallons a day (mgd) from the Green Bay Facility (30 mgd) and De Pere Facility (8 mgd), removing more than 97 percent of pollutants.

With its new solids handling facility, R2E2, or Resource Recovery and Electrical Energy, NEW Water entered a new era in resource recovery. The project represents a change in philosophy for NEW Water: valuing waste as a resource to recover, rather than something to dispose. After nearly ten years of evaluating, analysis, planning, design, community and customer engagement, construction launched in August 2015, and the project is now online.

The design includes two anaerobic digesters that break down biodegradable material contained in the primary and secondary wastewater solids, and reduces the volume of material to be processed. Biogas (which contains approximately 60% methane) is captured and used to produce electricity: currently, to the tune of more than 40% of needs for its Green Bay Facility. Greenhouse gas emissions are expected to be reduced by about 22,000 metric tons per year, the equivalent to removing about 15,000 vehicles from the road. R2E2 also features a nutrient recovery process that can recovery phosphorus in the form of struvite to  create a fertilizer for commercial sale. R2E2 will also allow NEW Water to accept different types of wastes it currently cannot, such as dairy, sugar, and food processing waste, which would otherwise be spread onto nearby fields or land-filled. These wastes can increase digester energy production, and provide a consistent and environmentally friendly disposal outlet.

The R2E2 system also includes a state of the art sewage sludge incinerator with heat recovery. The heat recovery system enables pre-drying of the biosolids prior to incineration to reduce the amount of supplemental fuel that is added to the incinerator. The system also includes enhanced air pollution control equipment to meet the stringent air permit requirements for new sewage sludge incinerators.

Learn more about R2E2 here: http://newwater.us/projects/r2e2-project/

Mission Statement: NEW Water is a water resource utility serving Northeast Wisconsin through pollution prevention, operational excellence, and community outreach.

Vision Statement: Protecting our most valuable resource, water.

NEW Water received a 2019 Better Project Award for its Resource Recovery and Electrical Energy (R2E2) solids recovery facility project that produces its own electricity on-site, reducing annual energy costs by an estimated 50%, or $2 million.