The establishment of a septage receiving and treatment facility accomplishes many environmental objectives. These include but are not limited to:
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reuse of a valuable resource that is presently deposited into a lagoon requiring large amounts of energy to biologically decompose the material,
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a closed loop treatment facility in which nothing is permitted to escape to the environment,
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a wastewater effluent that is similar in its makeup to that of normal sewer typically received by municipal treatment facilities,
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a facility that is open to septic tank service companies 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and not subject to operational problems at the current facility,
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a clear environmental advancement in the way this pervasive waste is handled.
Clean Earth Ltd.’s view is that septage has properties that make it an environmentally re-usable resource. For example, it is a good source of nitrogen, which is a core component of fertilizer. In addition, dewatered sludge is an excellent soil amendment making it ideal for composting and land application.
Also, there are other environmental improvements that will occur as a result of dewatering. These include reduced power consumption (with associated reductions in CO2 and SO2 emissions) for aerators at treatment lagoons. In addition, there is the fundamental environmental objective of reusing a resource by processing it to realize further economic value. The current, prevailing approach represents a dated philosophy of “end of pipe treatment” for waste.
Clean Earth Ltd.’s objective is to reduce waste by processing it for potential re-use. The value of this approach is clear when you consider that the problem is dealing with a material that will always be produced in ever large quantities.