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Inventiveness and Skill Lead to Effective Treatment of Rangeley Wastewater

February 20, 2008 - RANGELEY - We rarely think about where our waste water goes when we rinse dishes in the sink, spin the water out of the washing machine or flush the toilet. For about half of us in Maine, that waste water goes to the local sewage treatment plant. Thanks to those sewage treatment plants and the skilled operators that run them, we have much cleaner streams, rivers, lakes, and estuaries.

To see how the municipal treatment plants got their start in Maine and how they have kept pace with development, let's examine one town's history-Rangeley.

In the 1950s and 60s, failing septic and cesspool systems, coupled with straight-pipe raw discharges, were contaminating the local waters. Bacteria levels in Haley Pond, the cove section of Rangeley Lake and the area of the local drinking water intake were climbing. In the summer, unhealthful levels of bacteria were common.

In the mid 1960s, an engineering firm designed a collection system and primary treatment plant to discharge into Rangeley Lake. But state and local officials were worried that the wastewater might harm huge, beautiful Rangeley Lake and by the time problems showed up, it might be a huge problem to fix.

Up to this time, no treatment plants in Maine discharged into lakes so no one knew for sure what would happen. The treatment plant superintendent, Jerome "Frenchie" Guervement, and state biologist Matthew Scott convinced the town, the state and the US Environmental Protection Agency to build a more advanced (secondary) treatment plant. They also put the discharge into smaller Haley Pond rather than Rangeley Lake so it would be easier to study the results. Sure enough, nuisance algae covered Haley Pond in scum within two years. The discharge was sending nutrients, specifically phosphorous, into the pond and turning it green.

In 1975 the local officials built a partnership of federal, state and local officials to fund even more advanced treatment - the first plant of its kind in Maine. This advanced treatment resulted in the improvement of Haley Pond. The study of the treatment plant discharge to Haley Pond was so new and important it was published in The Journal of Water Pollution Control Foundation. The study also led the Maine Legislature to pass laws prohibiting future treatment plant discharges into lakes.

Rangeley continued to grow and the plant could not expand to meet the demands for wastewater treatment. Local, state and federal governments came up with a new solution. In 1996 a new plant was built with no direct discharge to the water, instead there were summer land and winter snow applications. The treated wastewater was sprayed on the land instead of dumped into the water.

The winter application is unique; when the town realized its existing lagoon wasn't big enough, local officials recognized that making snow out of treated water was both cheaper than building a new lagoon and more environmentally sound. Last year, it made almost 18 millions gallons worth of snow that lasted until July 4.

So next time you dump water down the drain or flush the toilet, thank your treatment plant, and its skilled operators, for protecting your local waters.

This column was submitted by Barb Welch, a Biologist with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP) Bureau of Land and Water.


SOURCE: MOOSEHEAD MESSENGER

DATE: 02-05-2008


Lakes: Rangeley
Regions: Rangeley


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