Wastewater Treatment Plant

Today we got the chance to tour a wastewater treatment plant.  We learned A LOT but it was VERY stinky!

In case you've ever wondered, here is what it looks like and how it works.

Click here to see an animated short on each step of the way.

All the poopy water comes in from the county through this pipe to the plant.  It is then run through a grate to pull out any big solids like branches, clothing, plastic, etc.  Air is pushed through the yucky water to collect some of the stink and "scrubbed" with a chemical to help remove some of the terrible smell.  The big solids collected are churned out onto this conveyer belt.

The raw sewage, which now still stinks but is "less" stinky is put into these huge tanks and stirred.

One of these huge tanks has not been used in quite a while and the seeds that have come through with the sewage have grown.  On each "island of settlement" there were lots and lots of tomato plants and pumpkin plants.  Gross!

Microbes eat away at the solids and further clear the water.

More solids are separated out and are then incinerated and turned to ash.

This is the poop ash as it exits the incinerator (water was added to it to keep it from blowing away in the air)

The water is removed and the ash is stored here until it is taken tot he landfill.

More pumping and holding occurs here under ground.

The water is then brought out here and is starting to look clearer.

UV bulbs break down the bacteria cell walls in the water and so they can no longer reproduce.

then the water is released back in the same stream in which it was originally taken

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