Vermont Business Magazine Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials will visit the Waterbury Wastewater Treatment Facility to recognize its innovative phosphorus removal system—the first application of this technology in Vermont—on Friday.
“Our partnership with the EPA to expand and upgrade clean water infrastructure is essential to reducing pollution in waterbodies throughout Vermont,” said Julie Moore, Agency of Natural Resources Secretary. “The Waterbury facility has led the way in this work and received a 2018 EPA Pisces Award for their achievements. With EPA Region 1 Administrator David Cash visiting the state this week, we are thrilled to offer him a tour of the facility.”
EPA Pisces Awards acknowledge projects supported by the agency’s Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund for exceptional outcomes. The Waterbury facility was nominated for its adoption of innovative technology to reduce phosphorus levels in treated wastewater discharged to Lake Champlain via the Winooski River.
The Waterbury facility’s “Co-Mag” system removes phosphorus from water by bonding it to heavy iron sand that causes it to settle more easily. Before installing this system, water leaving the Waterbury facility contained anywhere from 5 to 8 milligrams per liter of phosphorus. This met regulatory requirements at the time, but not stricter standards being phased in under the EPA’s 2016 Lake Champlain Total Maximum Daily Phosphorus Load.
With the Co-Mag system in place, water leaving the Waterbury facility today contains less than 0.2 milligrams per liter of phosphorus—a reduction of more than 95%.
“Protecting human health and the environment is a team sport, and the innovations that have taken place at the Waterbury Wastewater Treatment Facility exemplify such teamwork,” said David Cash, EPA Region 1 Regional Administrator. “Bringing the US EPA, state of Vermont and Waterbury teams together helped spark innovations that will go a long way in protecting Lake Champlain.”
Cash and Moore will tour the facility alongside longtime Chief Plant Operator Peter Krolczyk, who has directed operations there since 2002. Krolcyzk will be retiring from his 20-year career with Waterbury’s Edward Farrar Utility District later in June.
Waterbury’s Co-Mag system
MONTPELIER, Vt. – Agency of Natural Resources
