"New York is testing out a new water scrubber at one of its wastewater treatment plants in Queens. Meet the algal turf scrubber--two 350-foot slides covered in green algae. Water flows down the slides, algae grows naturally, and then helps clean water that is sent over it. John McLaughlin, Director of Ecological Services for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and Peter May, restoration ecologist for Biohabitats, explain how the scrubber works, and where the harvested algae goes." (Source)
Having grown up in the area, I'm very familiar with the green algae growth faciltiies in Central Wisconsin, otherwise known as Petenwell Lake and Castle Rock Lake. So I found this video clip to be particularly interesting - they're using green algae to remove phosphorous. It makes sense to me - the phosphorous is used by the algae, which uses it as a nutrient to grow. The effluent water is then more phosphorous-free, and you remove the algae as it grows too big. That's my take on it anyway - watch the video and see what you think. "New York is testing out a new water scrubber at one of its wastewater treatment plants in Queens. Meet the algal turf scrubber--two 350-foot slides covered in green algae. Water flows down the slides, algae grows naturally, and then helps clean water that is sent over it. John McLaughlin, Director of Ecological Services for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and Peter May, restoration ecologist for Biohabitats, explain how the scrubber works, and where the harvested algae goes." (Source) What about you? It seems like the phosphorous rules in Wisconsin are actually going to happen (as of right now, anyway), so how are you planning to deal with the change? Comment below!
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We're fresh back from the WWOA Annual Conference today, and what a great time we had. This year it was at the LaCrosse Center. I had never been to a conference there, and it has got to be one of the prettiest places to have a conference in the state. The City of LaCrosse really takes great advantage of their location on the river, with a beautiful park and downtown area. Combine the great location with the unbelievably fantastic weather we've had this week in Wisconsin, and we really couldn't have a complaint about being in Wisconsin. Now, we'll all just have to remember this Wisconsin love we're feeling in about three months. Besides experiencing a really great area, we had a great show. WWOA is one of our favorite shows of the year, because it feels like we get a double win every year. First we get to see a lot of our favorite (If you weren't there, don't worry - you are our favorite too!) and long time customers. Really, this would be worth the conference all on it's own, because we never forget that it's you - our customers - that help make us successful. Getting out of the plants and in a new location is always a benefit, and we're able to have great conversations about what's going on. We have great customers, and we really couldn't ask for anything more from a show than to just talk to them. But we get more, and our second win is getting to meet and see operators we aren't working with yet. I really feel like we offer great services and products. Because of this, talking to people about our company and giving them an alternative is really a positive experience. The conference offered plenty of opportunities to do just this. We were prepared with duck giveaways. I had the most fun moment when I was just surrounded by people who were checking out the ducks - there were seriously about 15 people surrounding me. I was restocking the supply, and every time I turned around the ones I had just put out were gone. It was crazy fun duck madness for about five minutes. If you're curious/confused about our duck giveaways, check out our article in the upcoming edition of the Wisconsin Rural Water Journal, where we will be the Spotlighted Corporate Member this time.
When it's all said and done, it was a great time and I'm looking forward to the WWOA conference next year at Kalahari. Thank you so much to the many people who work to put this conference together. We will see you sooner than we know it! |
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