Case Study
plant. Keeping the water out of the South Umpqua prom- ised to be cheaper than treating it thoroughly enough to discharge into the river. The team explored a wide variety of options to receive treated wastewater, including a golf course (which wouldn't have taken enough water), a poplar pulpwood plantation (which would have required too much land), and landscaping at highway inter- changes.
It turns out the answer was just over the next hill.
Cost-Effective Solution
Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the utility had purchased 340 acres of ranchland in a canyon a little over a quarter mile from the wastewater treatment facility, figuring it could either serve some- day as a place to spread treated biosolids, a site to receive treated wastewater, or a sound real estate investment whose sale could fund future plant improvements. As it turns out, notes Mark Madison, CH2M Hill's senior principal technologist in natural treatment systems and agricultural sciences, the ranchland "has nearly perfect conditions" to receive treated wastewater and capture most of its nutrient load. Fertile topsoil is great for the plants that suck up about one-third of the water and consume most of the nitrogen, potassium, and micronutrients in the effluent, as well as a significant amount of phosphorus, he explains. Below that, a layer rich in clay bonds tightly with phosphorus at a molecular level, making it permanently insoluble. Deeper in the soil profile, weathered basalt ages into a constant supply of new phosphorus-binding clay. Farther down, just above bedrock, fractures in buried basalt form channels that draw water down into the canyon to feed wetlands, springs, and a stream called Sylman Creek, which in turn runs to the South Umpqua. Heavy irrigation gives the plant
community all the water it needs to thrive, and then pushes excess water into the soil and causes it to flow underground toward Sylman Creek. To farmers, it would be wasteful. To the ecosystem, it's luxurious. "In rough numbers, one-third of the water flows
Mind Blowers
Aerzen Turbo Blower +
+
Delta Hybrid Blower =
Ultra Energy-Efficient Air
Now the choice is yours! Optimize your process efficiency by selecting the Turbo and Hybrid technology to ensure the reliability of your process.
Turbo+ To learn more, visit www.aerzenusa.com
108 Independence Way • Coatesville, PA 19320 • (610) 380-0244 inquiries@aerzenusa.com
wateronline.com ■ Water Online The Magazine, Wastewater Edition
17
NEW!