Sludge Watch ==> Victoria BC: Sewage could heat 30,000 homes

[Maureen Reilly]

Sewage could heat 30,000 homes
Expert sees a 'fantastic opportunity' to get water, heat and fuel from waste
Rob Shaw, Times Colonist
Published: Saturday, April 26, 2008


Greater Victoria flushes enough energy down its sewage pipes each day to 
heat at least 30,000 homes, says a Seattle expert hired as a consultant by 
the Capital Regional District.

There is a "fantastic opportunity" to extract clean water, heat and fuel 
from the CRD's sewage, which is now discharged into the ocean, said John 
Spencer, vice-president of the CH2M Hill engineering firm in Seattle.

"I think the opportunities here are begging to be analyzed," he said, adding 
he plans to put "boots to the ground" in coming weeks to start collecting 
data.

Spencer, the former director of the Seattle Metro Wastewater Utility, is 
part of a team of experts the CRD has hired to explore resource recovery for 
future treatment plants. The team presented some ideas on energy recovery 
and reducing greenhouse-gas emissions to the CRD's sewage committee this 
week.

Saanich Coun. Vic Derman called it "the most exciting presentation I've seen 
at this committee in a long period of time.

"It's absolutely the direction that most of us of the committee, perhaps all 
of us, have been asking for," he said.

Politicians voted Wednesday to stop planning plant locations, pending the 
release of a provincial study into resource recovery. The CRD said such a 
study, along with work done by Spencer's team, could redefine the 
"architecture" of its treatment system, pushing it toward a network of small 
decentralized plants, instead of a current plan for larger regional ones.

Locating the plants is key, Spencer said, while showing the politicians a 
map of the many homes and businesses in the CRD that use boiler heating 
systems. Heat pulled from the sewage lines -- which already run warm with 
our waste -- could help heat those boilers and save fuel. Major 
developments, such as the University of Victoria, CFB Esquimalt and local 
hospitals are seen as potential customers.

Meanwhile, a group of CRD politicians and staff returned from Sweden this 
week after touring sewage plants there renowned for resource recovery. Some 
Swedish cities, such as Gothenburg and Stockholm, use heat recovered from 
sewage treatment in apartment buildings, and bio-gas recovered from 
digesting sewage sludge to power buses and taxis.

Few buildings in the CRD use district heating, but it could be useful for 
future developments, Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe said. Sweden separates its 
organic waste from its garbage -- which the CRD also does in a pilot program 
-- and uses it to produce bio-gas, Lowe said.

That kind of integration between liquid- and solid-waste planning is key, 
said Esquimalt Mayor Chris Clement, who was also on the trip. "I was really 
impressed," he said. "It's just amazing what's going on in Sweden."

By selling the excess heat and fuel, the Swedish plants recover around 25 
per cent of their costs, said CRD chief administrative officer Kelly 
Daniels. They also incinerate leftover sewage sludge. The incinerators run 
cleaner than European emission standards, Daniels said.

The next update into the CRD's resource recovery planning is expected by 
June, when the CRD is required to submit an interim business case to the 
provincial government. The CRD members who visited Sweden are expected to 
post information gathered on the trip on the CRD's website soon.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=df9a48b0-7ab1-445c-a4c3-b5a4d69577d7