Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 6 · column 4 of 7 · from the scan, no model involved
Package
From Page A1
ing deep in its throat as the water coursed from one holding tank to another, it seemed to crouch, watching through heavy-lidded eyes.
Donna Chabot, senior operator of the plant, and Troy Jenkins, master electrician and plumber, have tamed the beast, turning it into one of man’s best friends.
Installed under a grant, the plant is one of a growing number of on site water treatment systems being successfully used around the country to solve localized wastewater problems. Up to 55,000 gallons of wastewater are processed through the treatment plant each day, serving the entire Sperryville community.
Completely hidden by a cordon of pines, the treatment plant is unobtrusive, relatively quiet, and virtually odorless from the ground.
Except for the constant daily water testing, sampling, and regulating required by the state Department of Environmental Quality, operation of a package plant is usually trouble-free with little maintenance required. This is due to the basic “package” design of the plant itself.
A prefabricated system, from ground level the plant looks like a series of large metal boxes with metal stairs on one side. On the opposite side, water pours down narrow rocky steps, picking up oxygen from the air. Then it flows into a small, detached building where added chlorine is removed.
Finally, the disinfected and purified effluent is discharged into the Thornton River. Inside the boxes, unseen and virtually unheard, the water is automatically channeled through screens, troughs and holding tanks where microbes or chemicals reduce the sewage “mixed liquor” to sludge which settles on the bottom. Several times a week, the sludge is pumped into trucks for processing and disposal at another site in
97.6%