Sustainable Land Development Today - May 2008 - (Page 13)

that generate large quantities of highquality water. However, they do create some issues such as getting the reuse water back to the homes if the purple pipe infrastructure isn’t there. “Believe it or not, Atlanta is so low on water that they have a new regulation that allows tanker trucks to go to a treatment plant, fill up with reuse water and go to somebody’s lawn and water it for them,” he said. “So instead of purple pipes, we’re going to have purple trucks running around.” But for new developments in remote areas, he recommends getting rid of any septic systems and incorporate smaller, decentralized systems. They would be scalable and built as needed. People can hook up to a sewer system which generates reuse water. It can do everything that can be done with a big plant, just on a smaller scale. “The infrastructure for wastewater is very expensive. So it is usually an after thought in remote areas. By using the smaller technology you can install it at a much lower cost,” Millard said. “Basically you put in a sewer plant, but it’s not huge. It’s a plant to handle just that area.” “What makes more sense? Piping clean, wastewater effluent to fresh water treatment plants to be used locally or dumping that effluent into dirty stream water, for someone else to draw out, clean up in a water treatment plant and drink?” he said. “When it comes to wastewater, somebody is going to drink it again, whether it’s next week or years down the road. All water is recycled,” Millard said, re- ferring its cycle of evaporation, transpiration, precipitation and infiltration. “Theoretically, that is going to happen no matter what. Reuse by connecting the pipes simply short-circuits the process.” Overcoming another hurdle “It’s called the ‘Yuck Factor.’ People have to get over the fact that reuse water is not ‘dirty’ water. It’s clean water,” Millard said, especially when it comes to Innovative Stormwater Management Products Media Filtration Underground Retention/Detention The Complete Stormwater Management Products Provider Taking it a step further Though the effluent from a wastewater treatment plant is not used for consumption, some areas of the country such as in California, Arizona and a few other states facing water shortages send it to a water plant for the final sterilization/purification process, making it fit for drinking. In most communities, water is used just once. It is sent down a drain, into a sewer pipe that goes to a wastewater treatment plant where it is treated to regulatory standards. This typically results in an effluent that is as clear as drinking water. This wastewater effluent is usually discharged into a body of water like a river or lake. Millard says this doesn’t make a lot of sense. Highly treated wastewater is dumped into a river or lake where it mixes with stormwater run off from other communities, which contains pollutants like motor oil and toxic metals, and is later taken up by other communities and processed for their potable water supply. Hydrodynamic Separators Specialty Applications Course of Construction Site Controls Contact us today to learn more about these exciting systems for complete stormwater management. Call 1-800-579-8819 Visit our web site at: www.kristar.com Circle 136 • or www.SLDTonline.com/webcard www.SLDTonline.com 13 http://www.kristar.com http://www.kristar.com http://www.SLDTonline.com/webcard http://www.SLDTonline.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sustainable Land Development Today - May 2008

Sustainable Land Development Today - May 2008 Contents Our Voice Editorial Board SLDT Resources Addressing a Crisis with Wastewater Recycling Visionary Award Finalists The Jonquil City - How a City Revitalized its Downtown Industry Spotlight: Enviroquip Solar Power System Design and Installation Stormwater: The Return of the Cistern Site Amenity: Fiber Optics Surveying and Mapping Wastewater: Low-Pressure System Special Feature: The Urban Canopy as Infrastructure Industry News Advertiser Index Products/Services Showcase Classifieds The Last Word: Nature Bats Last…

Sustainable Land Development Today - May 2008

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