Sludge Watch ==> Water Treatment Sludge

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

Sludgewatch Admin:

Many of you are already aware that there are sludges and there are sludges.  
This story is about water treatment sludge.  It is a residual that is left 
over after treating drinking water (while sewage sludge comes from the 
sewage treatment process).

Water treatment sludge, is less likely to have bacteria, but is may still 
have some issues if it is to be agriculturally used.  One issue can be 
arsenic.  Some drinking water is arsenic contaminated and the treatment 
process will pull the arsenic out of the water...and into the sludge.

These water treatment sludges will differ from place to place depending on 
what is in the water and what process chemicals and compounds are used.

..................................................................................
Ratepayers could foot $1M bill for sludge

By Terence J. Downing, Enterprise staff writer
TAUNTON — Taunton's water ratepayers could potentially end up footing a $1 
million bill to dispose of 25 years worth of sludge that has piled up at the 
water treatment plant in Lakeville.

Sanitary Engineer Cathal D. O'Brien said the Water Department is trying to 
find a way to get rid of the sludge without having to pass the cost onto 
water ratepayers and taxpayers.

"Every dollar we have to spend on getting rid of this stuff is one less 
dollar we can spend on improving the water system," O'Brien said. "We want 
to figure something out before it's too late."

Ratepayers are already feeling the pinch after the Council last November 
approved a rate restructuring that boosted the average homeowner's water 
bill by about $12 a year.

O'Brien said they also don't want to dip into the department's reserve 
funds, which are for emergencies.

O'Brien said they are studying some very promising options that might allow 
the city to sell the material for re-use by contractors.

The city is quickly running out of room for sludge at the plant and the 
state wants the city to get rid of the material because it's near the 
reservoir.

The treatment plant is located on the north shore of Elders Pond in 
Lakeville.

He said disposing of the estimated 80,000 cubic yards of wet sludge could 
cost in the $1 million range.

"To get rid of it would be top dollar in the seven-figure to six-figure 
range," said O'Brien.

The sludge has been accumulating at the plant since it opened in 1980. The 
sludge is put in an old gravel pit.

The sludge is the material that is leftover after the water is filtered and 
treated.

"It's muck. It's the stuff you don't want to drink in the water," said 
O'Brien.

The byproduct is made up mostly of residuals, including iron, manganese and 
aluminum.

"We've never been able to do anything with it," said O'Brien. "It's taking 
up space and let stay next to the reservoir forever."

The city will be seeking a beneficial use permit from the state that will 
allow the Water Department to consider ways of reusing the material.

O'Brien said the material might be used as construction fill or mixed with 
other soils for compost, roads, cement or other construction uses.

"Construction professionals might be able to use it. There's no bacteria or 
viruses in it. It's not hazardous," O'Brien said.

He said some companies have already contacted the city about using the 
material.

There might be potential uses outside of Massachusetts, where environmental 
regulations are different.

The Water Department is also looking at the option of sending the sludge to 
the city landfill, where it might be used as cover material.

Waste Management, which runs the landfill under contract, already takes in 
sludge from the sewer treatment plant at no cost to the city.

However, the city never negotiated with the landfill operators to take in 
sludge from the water treatment plant in Lakeville, O'Brien said.

"It's frustrating. We have a city-owned water treatment plant and a 
city-owned landfill but we can't put our sludge in the landfill," said 
O'Brien.

To start dumping the water treatment plant sludge at the landfill would cost 
the city "top dollar," O'Brien said.

"We would have to pay to dispose of it at our own landfill," said O'Brien. 
"We have a private operator at the sewer plant and they can dispose of the 
sludge at the landfill at no cost."

He said the city will have to negotiate with Waste Management to take in 
sludge from the water plant.

He said another community is also seeking to bring its water treatment plant 
sludge to Taunton's landfill.

O'Brien said he is confident the Water Department will find a disposal 
method that will not cost the ratepayers.