 OperationsThe Land Treatment Site covers a 6,300 acre site with over 1/3 of this land dedicated to spray irrigation fields where pine trees are cultivated.
The spray fields contain over 18,000 sprinkler nozzles. Treatment at the site can be broken down into four steps;
- screening/grit removal
- biological treatment lagoons and storage
- disinfection
- and spray irrigation of treated wastewater in forested ares.
The treatment lagoons cover 10 acres of land and have a capacity of 40 million gallons. They provide biological treatment of the wastewater with the assistance of floating aerators.
The storage lagoons cover 90 acres of land and have a capacity of 340 million gallons when full. They provide storage of treated wastewater during periods of inclement weather when spray irrigation is not feasible.
The treated wastewater will be applied in the spray irrigation field at the rate of 1.4 inches per acre per week during the summer months and 0.7 inches per acre per week during the winter months. The final purification of the treated wastewater is provided by the soil and trees which function as a living filter. They remove nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen which in turn support rapid tree growth.
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