Governor Shumlin has declared Friday “Water Quality Day” in the state. It’s the first time the state has highlighted the importance of wastewater facilities in addressing environmental and health issues facing Vermont residents.
The proclamation for Water Quality Day notes that wastewater treatment facilities protect public health and the environment and therefore deserve to be understood and supported by the state’s citizens. Facilities will be open to the public to provide tours and explain the role the infrastructure has in protecting health and the environment.
The Chittenden Solid Waste District is one of the sponsors of Water Quality Day. In the past, General Manager Tom Moreau ran the city of Burlington’s three wastewater treatment facilities, and the city of Barre’s prior to that. “A wastewater treatment plant is a fairly sophisticated infrastructure. It’s rarely seen. It’s rarely talked about because it has an ‘ick’ factor or a ‘yuck’ factor. And they’re dealing with some very sophisticated questions now. What happens to all the pharmaceuticals that you and I take and we excrete? I can guarantee you a good many of them go back to the lake or river. What do we do with the solids that we remove? Is there any danger such as endocrin disruptors? And I think they’re starting to engage the public and say we need to have a discussion.”
Lake Champlain International is helping promote Water Quality Day. Executive Director James Ehlers says these wastewater professionals are actually in the recycling business. “Were it not for that industry and that profession, we would not be talking about TMDL’s, we would be talking about a public health crisis. Just picture every household taking a five gallon bucket of their waste and going and dumping it in the local river. That’s the alternative. We’re really eager to get the wastewater industry as a whole all the resources possible. Not to just improve upon phosphorus and nitrogen and the treatment of heavy metals, but this whole new class of emerging contaminants. Pharmaceuticals that currently most wastewater treatment facilities are not geared to address.”
Conservation Law Foundation Senior Attorney Anthony Iarrapino says Water Quality Day should focus on the importance of clean water on health, economy and quality of life. But he notes there has been a lack of investment nationally in the wastewater infrastructure. “A lot of those plants are aging. They’re not up to the challenges presented by climate change. We have pipes that are leaking. We have pipes that are breaking down. We have pumps that can’t handle the volume of water from climate change. We can do a lot better when it comes to wastewater treatment and staying abreast of technology and continuing to invest, especially in the face of climate change. It’s really important to call attention to clean water infrastructure that most people are taking for granted.”
Water Quality Day events begin at the Montpelier wastewater facility with DEC Commissioner David Mears. More information is here.
