Sewage Treatment Plant May 28, 2014

Stages of cleaning waste water starting from
Left to Right

Waste being pumped

The incinerator to burn sludge

Generator and operating room

Touring the North Wastewater Treatment Plant was a lot more interesting than I thought it would be. As shown above, there are four different stages the wastewater goes through before it is 95% clean. At first, I thought our guide put his pen in the wastewater to stir it and I was sure I was going to faint, but I realized he used the stirrer laid out on the table and I was once again okay. I think my nerves got to the best of me before I went inside the Treatment Plant and I was expecting nothing but the worse. I asked our guide if he would drink the resulting water, seeing as it was 95% clean. I was shocked to hear him say he would not drink that water and would clean it further. I expected him to be more confident in the “clean” water, but he was not. I do realize that there will always be some sort of bacteria in our drinking water, but if the bacteria in the 95% clean drinking water would not harm you, I am still curious as to why he wouldn’t drink it. What I liked most about the tour was our guide. He was so enthusiastic about the job, and it made smelling and staring at the wastewater a lot easier. I also enjoyed his way of comparing unrelated things to the cleaning of wastewater. He compared the bacteria being injected in the wastewater from the pipe to an aquarium. Although this ultimately ruined the idea of an aquarium to me, I was able to understand the logistics more. The bacteria being put into the wastewater will start to “eat” up the wastes. This also led to his other comparison of the bacteria in the wastewater to having thanksgiving dinner. You eat as much as you can, rest, and then eat more when you wake up. That is exactly what the bacteria does, and the Treatment Plant reuses the bacteria every day. I am now extremely proud to tell people my Treatment Plant site is more effective than their Treatment Plant site. I was shocked to learn that the Albany County Sewer District is the only Treatment Plant in the nation to turn their sludge into electricity. I was shocked because I would have never guessed Albany would be able to come up with 9 million dollars to make and import the generator from Italy. I agree with our guide on the prediction that more Treatment Plants will be investing in a generator to create electricity. It is great to see that not only is the Treatment Plant cleaning water, but also conserving energy by 40%.  When I have dreams about what my house will look like when I am an adult, I see my house using more solar energy than electricity. Everything about the Treatment Plant interested me. I was so amazed by how it all worked and I respect the employees more than anyone. Without the cleaning of wastewater, disease would spread and a lot of people would die. I know I take full advantage of the clean water I use without thinking much about what is happening to it afterwards. I immediately flush the toilet after every use and I take half hour showers. I think I will be more aware of how much water I am using now. I am very sensitive to many things (I think you guys can tell by now), but smell is definitely a chart topper. I tried to hold my composure as much as I could, but I think everyone could tell I would never step foot in a Treatment Plant again.