i I ) ' '1/ I ~ , ~ ft) - iPZ' l -~ ~ ~ \ ', /l{m·..A~~~~ / fJ. J ."' ~ \ . i Ii /1 ~- ) \ Ii 1~1~ ;., -· ~ ~ .m J~/ 1/,l L?"~ffi ·.. In California, two enterprising people, Steve Serfling and Dominic Mendola of Solar Aqua Systems (P,O, Box 88, Encinitas, CA 92024), have developed an aquatic system which uses a series of "aqua-cells" to purify water in a hothouse environment. Sewage is pumped into the first aqua-cell, where water hyacinths take up and metabolize the nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients. In another cell, the water is given an ozone treatment to kill bacteria. The water then ,.. flows to other aqua-cells, where fish and frnshwater shrimp and other aqueous plants, such as duckweed, continue to absorb pollutants. The water quality produced is determined by the detention time in the various cells. An effluent comparable to conventional secondary treatment is easy to produce using this system. A longer detention time will produce superior quality effluent. In Humboldt County, California, the City of Arcata proposes to build a municipal wastewater treatment process which would treat sewage through oxidation ponds, fresh water marshes, a retention lake, and finally use ozonation as a bacteria kill to avoid the use of chlorine. A capstone on the treatment train would be a salmon farm, which would use wastewater to raise fish. Seven years of study using the traditionally treated Arcata sewage water has proven the potential for salmon rearing in local wastewater. , To the south, the City of San Diego wants to build a large demonstration project which would use an aquaculture treatmerit train similar to the one developed by Solar Aqua Systems. This water reclamation approach could develop into a major sewage recycling system which would recapture 60 percent of the water used by the city. Biological Control of Water Pollution, Joachim Tourbier and Robert W. Pierson, Jr., 1976, $20 from: Center for Ecological Research in Planning and Design Department of Landsc.ape Architecture and Regional Planning University of Pennsylvania 393 3 Walnut Street Philadelphia, PA 1917 4 Perhaps the best overview (and possibly most expensive) of current work in biological controls. This e~cellent sourcebook includes work on drinking water quality, aquifer recharge, biological treatment methods, the legal status of natural treatment methods and more. RAIN November 1977 Page 15 Wastewater Management If decentralized wastewater treatment systems are going to provide the services which centralized public systems have traditionally provided, then a management structure has to be created specifically designed for the needs of the small-scale systems. In California, OAT has developed a centralized management structure for decentralized wastewater treatment fa- • cilities, an On-Site Wastewater Management District, In early August of 1976, OAT began to study the issue.of individual, on-site, wastewater treatment systems (primarily septic tanks and drainage fields) vs. centralized collection and treatment-sewers. An on-site system is similar in major respects to a central sewer: wastes are collected, treated and disposed. But, there is one major difference: where sewers are publicly managed and maintained, on-site systems are usually built and forgotten, at least until something goes wrong, No mat~er how simple the devices, they cannot be expected to work forever without some upkeep and maintenance. The problem becomes one of determining how to rrovide for the proper maintenance and operations of on-site systems so that they could be expected to work indefinitely, • • In February of 19?7, SB 430 was introduced before the California Legislature by State Senator Peter Behr. Developed by OAT and others, the legislation creates a public entity empowered to properly design, construct, maintain, monitor and operate either publicly owned or privately owned on-site wastewater disposal systems. By providing all of the·services that a sewer district would, an On-Site Wastewater Management District's purpose is to insure all of the wastewater disposal systems within its boundaries are maintained and in good working Ot'der. The l<.ey change this legislation creates is that now, 14 of the 17 public entities which are au,thorized to operate and maintain sewers may, if they choose, operate on-site systems as an extension of or an alternative to their wastewater treatment facilities. • The bill passed the legislature and was signed by Governor Brown earlier this fall. Write to OAT for copies of the law. -Wade Rose Natural Sewage Recycling Systems (BNL 50630), Maxwell . M. Small, Jan. 1977, from: Brookhaven National Laboratory Environmental Control Technology and Earth Sciences TID 4500 Upton, NY 1197 3 This pa~er reviews efforts at Brookhaven to ~ tilize natural systems (especially marsh/porid systems) to produce potable water from sewage. The study (technically written and supported by charts, diagrams) centers on a system in New York state which has been working with continuous municipal flows since 1975.
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