Remington. Chris Demme, of the Virginia Department of Water

Remington.

Chris Demme, of the Virginia Department of Water Programs’ Bureau of Sanitary Engineering, explained that the configuration of the package is dependent upon whatever additions and modifications are installed with the basic system.

Wastewater is first collected in large septic tanks where anaerobic bacteria consume most of the solid waste. In the Sperryville plant, the fluid part is piped into a 33,000 gallon equalization basin which permits Chabot to regulate how fast the water moves into the package plant for processing.

Originally, the •Sperryville plant did not have an EQ basin as part of its design. That was added later by Jenkins, with help from county trustees.

Serving as a temporary holding tank, the EQ basin allows Chabot to regulate the volume of water flow entering the clarification tanks where most of the microbial action takes place. Before the EQ was, installed, heavy flow from the septic tanks or rain coming into the open top of the clarifiers sometimes increased the water flow so much that unsettled solids washed through the system.

This occasionally resulted in polluted effluent being accidentally discharged into the river. The EQ basin now prevents such problems from occurring.

Ed Barton and other members of the town council visited the Waterford plant recently, to observe its operations. Like the Sperryville plant, it discharges effluent directly into streams.

While package treatment plants do present many attractive benefits, the question of how to address the town’s wastewater problems is far from resolved. Said Barton.

Barton believes that other important questions remain to be answered, including the size of the plant needed and the ultimate boundaries of the town.

More information will be presented in the Alternative Wastewater Treatment Seminar scheduled for Oct. 15.