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How clean water returns to the river
By Ashley Rhodebeck
Daily News staff writer
Cleaning the City of Beloit's wastewater before it flows into the Rock River is a complex process that, among other things, requires monitoring bacteria levels and hauling truckloads of solid waste to the landfill.
Keeping the earth's water clean is a responsibility plant operator Gary Zimmerman takes seriously because, he said, life will be in serious trouble once the water becomes polluted to the point it cannot be consumed.
“No new water is being made,” Zimmerman said. “We bring it back to make it useful again.”
To see how sewage becomes clean water, Zimmerman will give a tour to anyone who asks. People can request a tour by calling (608)364-2888.
Wastewater comes from just about any building - houses, schools, hospitals, businesses and industries - and gets to the wastewater treatment plant, 555 Willowbrook Road, via the 11 pumping stations scattered about the city.
At the plant, the raw sewage flows through two 36-inch force mains to a plastic bar screen that prevents large objects from going any farther.
Throughout his career, Zimmerman has spotted 91 items snagged on the screen, and he keeps an alphabetical list of his findings on a nearby post. Among the lighters, dead animals, hair curlers, tooth brushes and syringes, Zimmerman has found what he calls “unknown stuff” and, in parentheses, “lots of it.”
Those items eventually end up in a landfill.
Next, the sewage enters a room that removes sand and grit before moving to a primary clarifier outside.
Measuring 100 feet in diameter and 12 feet deep, the tank removes about 50 to 60 percent of the wastewater's contents by skimming debris from the top and pumping the settled sludge to another tank.
The sludge - known as biosolids - is dehydrated until it mimics a pudding texture. The city applies it as fertilizer to farming fields.
After the first clarifier, the wastewater goes through an aeration basin that blows oxygen into the water so bacteria that eat the organic waste can live.
“We give nature a chance to do its job and get the heck out of its way,” operations supervisor Harry Mathos said.
Monitoring the level of bacteria is important because too many would result in bacteria getting into the water headed to the river, and too few would result in dirty water.
Afterward, the wastewater goes to the secondary clarifiers, which follows a process identical to the primary clarifier.
Finally, the water flows to the disinfection building. A strong bleach called hyperchloride kills the remaining bacteria. Another chemical, sodium bisulfate, neutralizes the first before the water is sent via an underground pipe to the Rock River two miles away.
Wastewater spends about nine days at the treatment facilities.
People can spot the clean water just west of the Shirland Avenue pumping station. Its dark color stands out against the river's muddy brown.
Keeping the earth's water clean is a responsibility plant operator Gary Zimmerman takes seriously because, he said, life will be in serious trouble once the water becomes polluted to the point it cannot be consumed.
“No new water is being made,” Zimmerman said. “We bring it back to make it useful again.”
To see how sewage becomes clean water, Zimmerman will give a tour to anyone who asks. People can request a tour by calling (608)364-2888.
Wastewater comes from just about any building - houses, schools, hospitals, businesses and industries - and gets to the wastewater treatment plant, 555 Willowbrook Road, via the 11 pumping stations scattered about the city.
At the plant, the raw sewage flows through two 36-inch force mains to a plastic bar screen that prevents large objects from going any farther.
Throughout his career, Zimmerman has spotted 91 items snagged on the screen, and he keeps an alphabetical list of his findings on a nearby post. Among the lighters, dead animals, hair curlers, tooth brushes and syringes, Zimmerman has found what he calls “unknown stuff” and, in parentheses, “lots of it.”
Those items eventually end up in a landfill.
Next, the sewage enters a room that removes sand and grit before moving to a primary clarifier outside.
Measuring 100 feet in diameter and 12 feet deep, the tank removes about 50 to 60 percent of the wastewater's contents by skimming debris from the top and pumping the settled sludge to another tank.
The sludge - known as biosolids - is dehydrated until it mimics a pudding texture. The city applies it as fertilizer to farming fields.
After the first clarifier, the wastewater goes through an aeration basin that blows oxygen into the water so bacteria that eat the organic waste can live.
“We give nature a chance to do its job and get the heck out of its way,” operations supervisor Harry Mathos said.
Monitoring the level of bacteria is important because too many would result in bacteria getting into the water headed to the river, and too few would result in dirty water.
Afterward, the wastewater goes to the secondary clarifiers, which follows a process identical to the primary clarifier.
Finally, the water flows to the disinfection building. A strong bleach called hyperchloride kills the remaining bacteria. Another chemical, sodium bisulfate, neutralizes the first before the water is sent via an underground pipe to the Rock River two miles away.
Wastewater spends about nine days at the treatment facilities.
People can spot the clean water just west of the Shirland Avenue pumping station. Its dark color stands out against the river's muddy brown.
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hshields wrote on Jul 25, 2008 8:33 PM:
And sludge pathogen reduction methods do NOT eliminate infectious human and animal prions which enter treatment plants from numerous sources, and are reconcentrated in the sewage sludge.
Many of us who have been calling for an end to the land application of toxic/pathogenic sewage sludge "biosolids", support clean, non-polluting thermal and other technologies that convert sludge from a contaminated waste to a renewable resource. Europe is way ahead of the US in using biogas and other methods to generate heat, power, and electricity from wastewater sludge, thereby protecting farm land from degradation and reducing both greenhouse gases and their dependence on costly foreign oil and gas.
Helane Shields, Alton, NH, USA http://www.sludgevictims.com "