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Written by Lacy Kemp, Communications + Engagement Manager at Greenprint Partners
Remember when you were a kid and learning everything new about the world? There’s a chance you were fascinated by big garbage trucks and fire engines, and perhaps you were of the era of the Ninja Turtles, who lived subterraneously in the sewer system. Watching the Turtles navigate the city underground was fascinating. The endless pathways of massive tunnels felt like a labyrinth. But what really goes on down there?
If you’re curious, one great way to solve part of that puzzle is to tour your local wastewater treatment plant. Simply put, wastewater treatment plants process all the water from homes, businesses and industry, and clean it. The process changes the water chemistry to meet the Department of Ecology’s water quality standards and is usually released back into rivers, lakes or the ocean.
Recently, members from Greenprint’s Seattle team toured the Brightwater Wastewater Treatment Plant in Woodinville, Washington — a relatively new facility that is on the cutting-edge of wastewater purification technology.
We spent about 45 minutes in a classroom session learning about wastewater before the tour began. According to the staff at Brightwater, the average US water consumer uses between 80-100 gallons of potable water a day! That includes things like showering, washing dishes, drinking and toilet flushing.
Brightwater has a machine that separates garbage from the wastewater. The garbage can include everything that may find its way into the toilet including hygiene products, candy wrappers, *flushable* wipes (turns out, they’re not so flushable after all and should be thrown in the trash), cotton swabs — you name it. The machine, named the Macho Monster, removes one cubic foot of garbage from the wastewater every minute.
The Brightwater Treatment Plant is unique in that it’s a zero-odor facility. The plant was built near neighborhoods, and a priority for the community was to keep the air smelling “Pacific Northwest fresh.” We can vouch that unless you’re deep inside the bowels of the plant (pun intended), you can’t smell anything! This is especially impressive because the solid wastes are removed and rest for 30 days in massive digestor tanks at around 100 degrees Fahrenheit, where the naturally occurring microbes break down the waste. It’s then dried out for another 30 days and then turned into fertilizer called Loop. The name Loop was chosen because it’s the end of the loop of recycling waste. Fun fact: Brightwater uses the methane that is naturally occurring in the solid waste to heat their digesters.
After the solids are removed, the remaining water is then run through state-of-the-art cartridge filters that look similar to gills. These gills remove 99.9% of the impurities from the wastewater — significantly higher than industry standards. The water is then piped 14 miles underground back into the Puget Sound. Brightwater takes pride in the quality of the effluent water (the clean water) they return back into nature.
More interesting facts:
- It takes approximately 6-12 hours for wastewater to reach Brightwater.
- As mentioned above, flushable wipes should actually never be flushed! Nor should any type of garbage or paper products other than toilet paper.
- Most wastewater treatment plants only receive wastewater, not stormwater.
- Toilet paper can break down in as little as 30 seconds.
Most treatment plants offer free tours to the public, and we’re here to tell you that whether or not you work in the water industry, it’s a fascinating experience! To learn where all of the 14,000+ wastewater treatment plants are in the US, check out this map. To schedule a tour, check your local municipality's website for information on how to get in touch with your local wastewater treatment center.
