Wastewater treatment to face change

By JOEL MYERS
Collegian Staff Writer

Flushing the toilet certainly is not the most glamorous part of the day, but a necessary one nonetheless.

That wastewater eventually arrives at the University Area Joint Authority treatment facility, which currently can handle 6 million gallons of wastewater per day. Projected growth studies show the Centre Region will exceed that amount in the next five to 10 years, and alternative plans are being considered to solve the impending, albeit unglamorous, problem.

The UAJA plant treats wastewater generated in State College Borough and College, Ferguson, Harris and Patton townships. Penn State has its own facilities located on University Drive.

The UAJA plant treats wastewater and discharges the cleaned water, or effluent, into Spring Creek, which has been classified by Pennsylvania as a high-quality cold water fishery. Studies have shown the creek cannot accept more than 6 million gallons of effluent without adversely affecting the stream's biology.

Because a plant expansion would generate more effluent than should be added to Spring Creek, the UAJA has been considering other options to combat the projected regional growth.

The most recent solution, dubbed beneficial reuse, involves pumping treated wastewater from the plant to locations for industrial or agricultural reuse. The water also may be used to replenish aquifer levels or may be added to local streams, said Cory Miller, UAJA executive director.

"Water is something you use and then throw away," Miller said. "We want to use it again."

Wastewater from the treatment plant currently is disinfected but not sterilized. Disinfection leaves only trace amounts of disease causing bacteria and viruses.

Beneficial reuse would require the effluent be cleaned to drinking water standards by using filtration and other technologies that ensure all viruses and bacteria are removed.

Water not used for industry, agriculture or streamflow enhancement will be injected back into the groundwater supply, where it will replenish the aquifer level. Water injected into the groundwater will take about a year to be reused for drinking purposes.

The Centre Region Planning Agency Wastewater Treatment & Disposal Alternatives Study, prepared by Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, projects the beneficial reuse plan to cost about $21 million. Construction of the necessary accommodations is expected to be completed in 2002, Miller said.

The project will require rehabilitation of the current plant, construction of an advanced water treatment system and the development of processes for redistributing the water, said Brian Book, regional manager of Herbert, Rowland & Grubic.

Miller said while people are comfortable recycling their garbage, they may be uncomfortable recycling their drinking water. However, Miller said the beneficial reuse program would make the treated water cleaner than it was originally.

To help educate the public, a World Wide Web site will be available near the end of March. Question and answer sessions will be held on the site to help satisfy public concerns and discussion of beneficial reuse will be introduced into area schools.

"The engineering and science are all proven. The hard part is the public acceptance," Miller said.

A proposal is being discussed in which reused water will be placed into Slab Cabin Run, where it will be monitored for several years, said Robert Bini, Centre Regional Planning Commission director. The pilot program is designed to help build public confidence in the treatment process and the beneficial reuse project.

Beneficial reuse is the only sustainable option for future wastewater treatment in the Centre Region, Book said. Reuse was the only option that eliminated the possibility of similar capacity problems in the future.