A silk purse from a sow's ear
Posted By STEPHEN UHLER
-Whoever said making a silk purse out of sow's ear was an achievementshould take lessons from how Bonnechere Valley has been handling itssewage.
On Tuesday, a crowd of Renfrew County officials, industryrepresentatives, and municipal councils from across Ontario and beyondgathered at the Eganville Sewage Treatment Plant to watch as one of the50-foot long Geotubes, the heart of the municipality's state-of-the-artbiosolids facility, was opened a year after it had been filled tocapacity.
Within it, a loamy, mostly dry substance rested, the endproduct of a process which the township hopes will solve how to dealwith untreated septage once the provincial ban on spreading it onfields comes fully into effect.
Zig Mintha, Bonnechere Valley Township mayor, said this isanother great moment in a project which has been rolling since theconclusion of a successful pilot in 2005, leading to the adaptation oftheir sewage plant to use Geotubes, which officially opened in June2008.
"It was a long process for us," he said. "It has been successful so far, and we intend to continue it."
Eganville resident Don Bishop, owner of Bishop AquaticTechnologies and the businessman who introduced Geotube as a method ofdealing with sewage, said this dewatering method has been around fordecades, but hadn't been tried for human waste treatment before.
"This all started from an idea, and after a lot of hard work,much of it spent trying to convince people of its value, it has becomea reality," he said.
"If you have a belief in something, keep your shoulder to it," Mr. Bishop added.
Geotubes work by allowing wastewater or sludge, to be filteredthrough a large dewatering bag made of polypropylene fabric, whileretaining a high percentage of solids. The sludge is then pumped into aunit where it is mixed with a polymer, which separates the liquid fromthe solids.
The wastewater is pumped back into the plant for furthertreatment, while the solids are retained in a Geotube unit. After aperiod of three months to a year to dry out, the solid nutrients can beused as compost or in other land applications that meet environmentalguidelines.
Mr. Bishop said the biggest benefit is how effectively thismethod dramatically reduces the volume of sludge. Under the NutrientManagement Act, a municipality needs to provide enough storage for 240to 270 days worth of waste on site, and anything which cuts down on thevolume to save space will save money.
The Ministry of the Environment has been trying tophase out the use of untreated septage and biosolids on agriculturallands since 2007, but has delayed imposing a complete ban on thepractice until municipalities can develop the means to dispose of thematerial in a way which suits the provincial agency.
This impending change has had rural communities scrambling towork out alternatives to dealing with their septage beyond treating andhauling it to landfills at considerable cost.
Following the successful pilot project in 2005, BonnechereValley Township partnered with the Ontario government in partiallyfunding the $800,000 enhancement to Eganville's 40-year-old sewagetreatment plant, which was completed in the summer of 2008. Themunicipality chipped in $350,000.
The revamped dewatering facility consists of six 50-footGeotube units, a greenhouse and a pumping station linked with theplant.
With the facility, the township expects to save $20,000 a yearin hauling fees. The only other option for untreated septage is to haveit hauled to a special facility in Ottawa.
This facility is considered unique in Ontario, and is a source of pride for the municipality.
The township will continue to evaluate the dewatering processfor the rest of the year, and present a final report on the matter inearly 2010. Included in that is an evaluation of the organic materialand its benefits as a soil amendment nutrient.
Stephen Uhler is a Daily Observer reporter
Posted on October 30th