Students Celebrate Earth Day at Sewer Plant

The Two Rivers Water Reclamation Authority in Monmouth Beach provided tours to over 175 elementary school students, teachers and municipal officials and staff to help raise awareness of the importance of efficient wastewater treatment during an Earth Day Open house. The tours included a PowerPoint presentation with hands on inspection of samples of the Sewage and by-products at each stage of the treatment process with the final effluent “product” favorably compared to a sample of drinking water.  The students, teachers and town representatives enjoyed lively question and answer sessions, a tour of the Treatment Plant including presentations by Laboratory, Operations, Engineering and Management of the Two Rivers Water Reclamation Authority.  They got to see first-hand how the Authority reclaims 4.4 billion gallons of sewage a year.  The guests observed the three thousand yards of odor treating wood chips called a biofilter which replaced the use of chemicals to treat odors onsite.

The guests walked the same route the sewage travels as it is processed and learned how everything that is put into the Sanitary Sewer is removed by the Authority with specialized treatment processes. They learned the importance of not putting frying grease into the sewer by seeing a large sample of the 1.1 million pounds of grease that the Authority removes each year. The guests viewed the microorganisms that are the heart of the treatment process, through a powerful microscope and learned the difference between good organisms and ones that could upset the advanced treatment process.

Guests who tour the facility see the pride that the staff of the Authority takes in the service they provide; and their commitment to the environment as reflected by the condition of the facility.   Tours conclude with a discussion of efforts to provide effective wastewater treatment as efficiently as possible by outlining cost savings measures. In addition to operational efficiencies, the Authority helped for an aggregation of Sewerage Authorities to purchase electricity for a savings, at the TRWRA alone, of over $240,000 over the next 2 years. The purchase of larger, lighter weight sludge hauling bins that save 19% on sludge hauling costs.

The best place to get additional facts about the TRWRA facility is at TRWRA.org