The Big Buffalo
Wastewater Reclamation Facility is an advanced treatment facility with a
permitted capacity of 12 million gallons per day. Physical, biological,
and chemical processes at the plant treat wastewater before it is
released into the environment.
First, it passes through a bar screen and then through a grit chamber where debris is removed prior to reaching the influent pumps that pump it to the aeration basins. Microorganisms in the aeration basin are used to convert organic matter to a solid residue. The aeration basins discharge the wastewater to the clarifiers where solids are broken down further.
Clear water in the clarifiers then travels to the filters. The waste-water is disinfected by a chlorination process and safely dechlorinated prior to being discharged through an outfall pipe into the Deep River.
The nutrient-rich organic materials resulting from the treatment of domestic sewage at the wastewater treatment facility are called biosolids. The nutrients in these biosolids contain:
Micronutrients like copper and zinc which are essential for plants