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Case Study ately to minimize hammer and pipe movement. Water is delivered to the well-balanced mix of vegetation — and the soil beneath it — through drip emitters and microsprinklers. The plants are growing steadily, and by 2013, when they're considered large enough to be drawing their full share of phosphorus and nitrogen from the treated water, RUSA's system will be fully on-line. However, the vegetation got a great head start — even before the regulatory dead- line, the natural treatment system was already treating water to a higher level than required. Thames points out that the land-application system isn't about disposal — it's a fully functioning effluent polishing system. "We're not putting bad stuff in the ground and hoping it goes away — we're adding nutrients to the soil, making it even better," he says. "We see this project as a win-win. We're letting Mother Nature help us out. We're providing soil amendments to nutrient- deficient ground, and we're putting polished water back into the river that's better than the river water itself." Blazing A New Trail The RUSA project blazed a new trail by com- bining mechanical treatment, land application, and constructed wetlands to address the South Umpqua TMDL. That made for some challenges in securing regulatory approvals, notes Madison. "The regulators understand the technologies and have confidence in the treatment perfor- mance and wanted to allow the project to be built — it just didn't fit the process for permit writing," he explains. "With support from all levels of DEQ and other regulatory agencies, the innovative process finally got an innovative approval to proceed." "The regulators now have some very suc- cessful examples to use as guidance to make permitting similar facilities quicker and easier," Madison adds. That's good news for future projects like the RUSA one — a future Madison says is likely to include more of these systems that combine natural and mechanical treatment for both finan- cial and public relations reasons. "The initial capital cost and long-term mainte- nance cost of natural treatment systems can be much lower than a purely mechanical process," he points out. "The public is very supportive of green infrastructure and sustainability, which are the hallmarks of natural treatment." wateronline.com ■ Water Online The Magazine, Wastewater Edition 19 Steve Werblow is a freelance writer/photographer who covers water, agriculture, and industry from Ashland, OR. A graduate of the Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Steve has researched and shot articles on six continents. He worked with Amiad Water Systems to develop this article. No Blinders "Probably what we're doing here doesn't fit every- body, but it fits us real well," Thames adds, noting that other wastewater utilities can seek a wide variety of solutions to address challenges — like TMDLs, which are being written for thousands of rivers, streams, and lakes across America. "The main thing is not to have blinders on. All sorts of things are possible. You just have to think 'what actually fits for the area?'" "At the end of the day," he says, "we see this project as a win-win."