The Goderich Signal-Star, 1974-08-22, Page 15r„
31 Deo. 1 09$7654
Public Library,.
52 Montreal St..,
Goderich,, Qnt N7A 204
127 YEAR 34
obtrtclj
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THURSDAY, AUGUST 22,
SECOND SEC,TiON
Here it is - raw sewage arriving at Goderich's Pollution Control
Plant. Starting at the left, the first drain` carries sewage from
the new subdivision in the southwest portion of town; the
second (centre) .drain carries sewage from the main part of
town; and the third (rrght),4drain carries sewage from Highway
8 and Highway 21 districts..Before April of 1967, Goderich's
sewage was dumped directly into Lake Huron. Now, after en -
,tering the .park -like sewage plant, it is successfully treated so
it can be carried to the `lake in a pure and clear state. (staff
photo)
.This is just one of four,aerators at the Pollution Control Plant
where bacteria breaks down to organic iriatter to an activated
sludge. It takes seven hours of churning in these massive'
aeration tanks-before"the effluent discharges over adjustable
Weirs on its way to the •final settling tanksand the activated
It may not be Niagara Falls but it onebeautiful sight at
the Pollution Control Pant to see sewage sopurified that it
'Tuns clear and clean into Lake Huron. Superintendent'Gerry
Fisher says the effluent from' the sewagepis, at this point,
safe to drink. The effluent pictured here is emerging direc-
tly from the chlorine contact chambers.where.th.e final treat-
ment is given. Citizens Whohaven't yet toured the Pollution
Oontrol Plant operated by the Town•of Goderich, shoulddo
so when time permits. (staff. pho(o)
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sludge`' pumps, and on to the chlorine contact chambers.
Sludge from the plant is treated by the addition of ferric
chloride'and lime and processed into a'sludge cake which is
transported away from the plant and disposed onto a land area
as fertilizer and soil conditioner: (staff,photo)
Now it's s wage
no it's not
It is difficult •td inake sewage' spotles.- 4 true •cred ':to 'the
glamorous but the Town" of Town Goderich '*d •its
Goderich thrgstgh its Pollution people...
Control Plant Supervisor Gerry .Staff .at he Sewage ' eat -
F isher andhis, staff ofment Plan nu.rnbera •four
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opel•ators `is making - a pretty 'fulltime:" As well as Gerry
good attempt at it. Fisher, ther are three'
It ,s 'no, wonder that next to operators. -" Ch tlie Adams,
Huron 'County • Pioneer Harold Chamber.. and' .Cliff
-Museum and this'summe'r, the ' Kennedy. During. t'e summer''
former Huron County Jail, the months when mainte : nce is' at
Pollution Control Plant• is one its peak and etnployee:� are, on
of the most toured spots in the holidays, a student .. t' em-
municipality!' Four ..hundred , ployed. • This' year it •is ilte .
school children were herded Palmer,.going into Grade 1, at
through the , plant in . May GDCI this fall. •
alone!, •A tour of •the facility begin.
The plant was built in •1967 at the beginning where the raw
-for a cnst of $900,000.t� handle • 'sewage enters the plant. The
one million gallons .of• sewage , first ;treatment is a , four" inch
per 'day .for a population of • bar screen which,.take' out. any
10;000 but sufficient land is. , large items. ..which ; may -have
available to doubie its present git•ten into the sewers.•
ca})acity to . serve ;a total The sewage. continues on its
population of 20,000:. r... way through the parsha11
Operation4,c(sts at •the plant, Flume, measuring device which '
according to ,Gerry Fisher, are, overflow§ at 3,000,0'00 gallons.
well within ' limitations. He Anything in excess,of 3,0000.00
feels it was, a good move on'the gallons is bypassed
part iii the Town tordecide to tutorn'atica.11y„by the Parshall
build and operate 'the plant as Flume.
a municipal facility. He "This could only happen at
estimates the Goderich' plant the'peak of a storm,” observes
runs at somewhat less cost than ' Gerry" Fisher. When this hap-,
similsr operations. under goer pens, the overflow makes its
nment ownership. ' , way to. the lake untreated.
• And it is doubtful if govern- Next,- the sewage is. carried
inent operated plants would be; , through a grit remover which
any better maintained than the takes out inorganics like sand,
Goderich plint. Everything is grit or gravel. Then it is diree-
clea.n .and shining- even what ted - through a' c:omminutor
might become grubby pump 'which "'shreds any of the' larger
houses are *painted and materials,' and from here into
'the first distribution'box which
controls the flow` into the °
Primary -tanks and „acts as an
outlet • fo..r wasting 'activated
sludge:
The''Primary settling tanks
two -of them 45 -feet in diameter
and 11 feel six inches 'deep
remove between 60 and 6fi.per-
cent of the°organic matter. The
sludge settles to the bottom to '
holding pockets, out of which
the sludge is Pumped -to the ad-
ministration building and
processed into what is' known
as sludge cake "and trucked
away" from the _plant oto be
Spread on lana areas as fer-
t.ilizer.
From here it goes tip the
- aeration tank§ where` the bac-
teria breaks down to organic
matter to an activated sludge.
After this Seven hour churning
and agitation, the sewage
passes to the final settling
tanks- - twt) tanks 45 feet in
diameter and 10 feet nine° in-
ches'deep.o
The final stage before release
into the lake- is 'the chlorine
cotltact chambers. The effluent
is. now clear: and "clean. Every
two 'weeks, Samples are taken
and tested,- the results going to
the Ministry of 'the. Environ.'
ttrent,
Sew'age., if not glamorous, has
been made pollution free acid
`ac eptab1 . That's some trick.
These .two devices, when the two graphs, are compared,
should tell quite a story about the atmosphere. The top pic-
ture shows the rainfall measuring equipment which charts
the amount of precipitation as well as the time it fell. The
bottom photo -is. ,a fieldrecording 'wind set and wind
monitor. It measures wind yelpcity..and"'direetion. When the
information from the two. charts is run Through' a computer,
it should ;pin°point the source of pollution, if any; in the'rain
samples wliichare coileoted in the -.six different' situations at
Goderich. (staff phgto,
"'charge at the Pollution Control Plant, Is justifiably proud of the
Gerry Fisher, the man in g sornethin
-Operation. The eight acres' inside the fence and g like four acres outside the fence is ,,
vy01lrriaintt� ined and more like a park than an efficient sewage treatment plant. Here Mr. Fisher
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testa a sample of the effluent,which leaves the plant for the lake. Every month,. thesuperinten-
dent make's 6 reprt to Goderich Town Cpuntsil, a`it5wing the town's elected officials to keep a
vital cheek` on tl municipally•owned�'facility. (staff photo) n
p M A
rF.
The, Three' closed containers on the roof of the shed (see ,
photc on „tight) are operated by this piece of equipment. A
s'ening , bar automatically energizes the motor when it..
-,begins-to---rain and -the caps arse lifted off -the samplers to
allow -rain samples to•'be taken. When the' rain ends,'the
procedure reverses itself and the caps are closed again.
This ensures ttireeaclosed samples of rain at the site .as well 4,
as two open samples = one on top of the shed and one on
top of the tower at right (note^the.hose running the length
Of the tower and carrying the rain sample pIe 'to a container on
the ground). (staff photo)
This fib-foot'tower and the rather stark shed next to it on
one corner of'thetiproperty occupied by the Pollution Con-
trol Plant in southwest Goderich was constructed by Earth
Science Consultants, the Ontario Ministry of the Environ-
ment and Inland `Lakes in a joint project to d'eferniine the',`
amount of pollution in the atmosphere. This as .well as a
.device. on a buoy six tnilei out on Lake Huron provides six
different sarmles -ef •rainfall which ,t"ver a period of tithe
should give d fairly accurate pioture of the type c ,it polluthrr,
"if any, in the air as well' as its source. The sophisfcated'
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equipment here is one of three setups tri the province; The.
two are•at Manitoulin island and Wawa:(statfphoto)
otherVv .� •