Using plants to purify wastewater

Article Abstract:

Wastewater can be purified by using one of John Todd's Living Machine Systems. Commercially developed by Living Technologies, the Living Machine Systems uses a combination of plants, snails and microorganisms to purify wastewater as it flows through different tanks. Beginning at a tank that contains crustaceans, rotifers and ciliates, the wastewater's pathogen load is reduced and transferred to a settling tank for biosolids to drop to the bottom. The water then flows on to a fish pond, before shifting to reactors planted with tropical vegetation for a final treatment. Some 21 Living Machine units are currently in operation worldwide.

Innovations, Water, Water treatment, Water-supply engineering, Water supply engineering

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Hard surface alternatives

Article Abstract:

Asphalt and concrete have become the most widely used composting pad materials in the US, but viable alternatives are now becoming available. The composting pad at Bluestem Solid Waste Agency's yard trimmings composting site in Cedar Rapids, IA, for example, is made from Ecostone, a hydrated Class C fly ash produced from coal-fired plants operated by IES Utilities Inc. A lime stabilized clay surface has been used for the composting pad at the USDA/ARS Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland.

Buildings and facilities, Compost plants

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Acceptance improves for large-scale anaerobic digestion

Article Abstract:

Anaerobic digestion is gaining increasing acceptance as a key technology to treat industrial wastewaters and organic residuals. There were about 600 vendor-supplied, low-solid anaerobic digestion systems operating or under construction worldwide as of 1996 and over 1,000 in 1997 according to the International Energy Agency. The technology is allowing waste disposal operators to achieve increasingly strict regulations in terms of providing environmental benefits.

Methods, Usage, Recycling (Waste, etc.), Recycling, Waste minimization, Waste reduction, Anaerobic bacteria

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