Let’s face it, it can be hard to get excited about wastewater treatment facilities. For the most part, they are out-of-sight and out-of-mind, silently pumping away all our wastewater and turning it into clean, usable water again. However, water pollution problems in Lake Carmi and elsewhere have highlighted the important role wastewater treatment facilities can play in transforming Vermont’s waterways.
Creative new wastewater treatment strategies are cropping up all over the state. One example is an innovative new project underway at Lake Carmi State Park to renovate the park’s wastewater treatment and spray distribution system. The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Department of Forests, Park and Recreation (FPR) are joining together on this project. The renovation has an ambitious goal of creating a zero-discharge system. Put another way, once the renovation is completed, the state park’s wastewater system will no longer contribute any discharge into the Lake Carmi Watershed. This project will also result in considerable savings by slashing operation and management costs.
The state park’s new wastewater treatment system will resemble a living machine. A living machine is an ecological sewage treatment system that mimics natural wetlands to improve water quality to reuse standards suitable for use in toilet flushing. These plant-based wastewater treatment systems are entirely self-contained. If you’ve ever stopped by the welcome center rest area off I-89 in Sharon, VT or walked into the Aiken Center at the University of Vermont in Burlington, you’ve seen these ‘living machines’ in action. These regenerative, self-contained systems have the potential to significantly reduce water pollution across Vermont.
The renovation at Lake Carmi State Park involves two key pieces: improvements to the existing lagoon treatment system and construction of a wetland to reduce, and eventually eliminate, the need for the spray field system currently used to distribute the highly treated effluent. The state park’s new system will aerate and recirculate wastewater through the existing lagoon as well as having an evapo-transpiration feature prior to the water moving into a new constructed wetland. The wetland will feature a shallow zone (2 feet) planted with wetland vegetation. Submerged aeration installed throughout the wetland will increase evaporation and enhance water quality by adding oxygen. The second zone (6 feet deep) will look like a pond. This zone will have floating aquatic ecosystems with native wetland plants that help remove excess nutrients from the water. These systems will also infuse oxygen, cutting down on odor and algae growth. The wetland system will move water through the treatment stages and further increase evapotranspiration.
This project is one of the first of its kind and will serve as a model for communities, municipalities, and state agencies looking to install similar systems. The renovation is scheduled to be completed early next summer.