POO-GLOOS, Where does your waste water go?

Gresham, Wisconsin, a small town of 600 is experimenting with their wastewater. Right now all of the wastewater is drained off into a "lagoon where there's bacteria, or bugs if you want to call 'em, that eat at the waste and they take and turn that into oxygen and get rid of all the sludge and heavier materials." Says Art Bahr, the Town Administrator.
The problem is that in the cold winter the bacteria in the lagoon doesn't work as fast at breaking down heavier materials. So the folks of Gresham have been experimenting with a Poo-Gloo. The Poo-Gloo or Biome is made up of seven small domes (figure 1) inside one big dome. Between them is a plastic material thats a fixed film technology. This basically increased the surface area in a warmer environment (biome) for bacteria to thrive and convert waste. The wastewater enters through the bottom, and after the bacteria remove harmful materials, the water drains out the top.
The town currently has one Poo-Gloo that is in an experimental phase. According to Bahr, the town will need thirty four of these Poo-Gloos dispersed between two ponds to handle the towns 275 utility consumers. At five thousand dollars a Poo-Gloo thats around $325,000 with installation and technology updates.
But whether it is cost effective or not, the Department of Natureal Resources is very interested in Gresham's experiment and how it can be used through out the midwest.



Figure 1

We generate a lot of waste as humans, especially modern American humans. I think small towns taking the initiative to find a better solution to pollution is 100% American Awesomeness. The cost of these little crap-shacks is 5000$ a piece. I don't know how long they last but the podcast said that, if they are maintained they should last for "many years." well for those kinda clams you'd wanna get your money out of it. I don't know if the 325,000$ start up cost for 275 utility costumers is reasonable or not. there are a lot of other questions this brings to mind. Who flips that bill? What is the alternative to Cold Weather Biome Lagoons? septic systems? How clean is the water that comes out the top? Can one household have their own biome lagoon? is a biome lagoon system better than septic? Are community wastewater treatment systems better than a residential system? how can we reduce waste altogether?

Waste is not going away, Waste is an integral part of American society, American as McDonalds apple pie. Waste is a product of humanity, and how we make it, deal with it, through it out, flush it down, is connected to our daily behavior and practices. HOW CAN HUMANS KEEP UP WITH THE WASTE WE GENERATE?

To check the podcast out yourself go to: http://www.loe.org/shows/shows.htm?programID=11-P13-00005#feature6