12/13/2011 SEWER COMMISSION Minutes

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A Quandary needing discussion. There are many partial solutions to Nitrogen pollution utilizing sewerage treatment facilities and PDR's to reduce the Nitrogen loading in waste water from the range of 35 to 40 mg/liter in Title 5 systems and the present level of 10 mg/liter available from present and future sewerage processing capacity. The present waste water is being injected directly into a watershed by Title 5 systems and sand pit methodology in use at processing plants. These are the sources of the Nitrogen polluting our watersheds and entering our drinking;water aquifer. Collecting the waste water from all systems and piping it to an area outside our watersheds is one solution, another is an ocean outfall, and a third is to return it to a watershed and our drinking water aquifer after Nitrogen pollution has been removed. Of the three solutions only one addresses the complete "0" sum game necessary to preserve our estuaries and prevent Nitrogen pollution of our aquifer. Think about this: Pumping into an area that leaches into Nantucket Sound provides Nitrogen loaded water to the near shore line called beachfront. Pumping into an outflow system in the Sound robs our drinking water aquifer of millions of gallons of water daily. In times of drought lower reserves can starve wells and probably would concentrate pollution in the aquifer. Returning clean, nearly Nitrogen free,water to our watersheds can be accomplished in three ways. First removing enough Nitrogen in our processing plants to be below normal (read not polluted)background levels. Second utilize man made PRB's to remove Nitrogen from processing plants' waste water through organic decomposition of Nitrogen compounds. Third use our natural environment to decompose Nitrogen compounds by spraying into woodlands full of plant life and decomposing organic materials. This can be accomplished in town owned and/or conservation areas. These woodlands are a natural PRB of which we would only have to use a small area. Returning clean processed water to our watersheds and drinking water aquifer is a responsible course of action which needs to be implemented as part of the overall plan to remove Nitrogen pollution caused by human waste. Obviously the simple solution of using our woodlands to basically polish the Nitrogen out of water from processing plants will requires educating the public with technical confirmation of effectiveness. This system is being utilized in one of the most conservation oriented states Vermont, as well as countless applications in dry areas like Arizona. Respectively submitted Joe Lyons