Nov.
8, 2002
Native grasses clean sewage
Housing complex has first wetlands
system licensed in Missouri.
By Jeff Arnold
News-Leader
Shell Knob — In a scenic Ozarks meadow, two wetlands ponds
are a model for state-of-the-art, all-natural wastewater
treatment. The system will not only serve a new senior
center, but also will help improve Table Rock Lake water
quality. All by not messing with Mother Nature.
The $163,000 system is the first wetlands project in
Missouri licensed for commercial use. It turns the complex
process of treating sewage into a series of natural steps
that transform liquid waste into water clear enough to
drink.
The natural way of treating waste is not a new one, but
it’s being used for the first time locally at Ozark
Villas, a recently opened senior citizens housing complex.
The center sits on 40 acres — 36 of which remain
undeveloped — and includes 32 apartments, a number that
will eventually grow to 196 units. All of them will be
serviced by the natural wastewater treatment system.
“It’s really simple and what we’re trying to explain
(is) that treating wastewater isn’t complicated,” said
David Casaletto, program coordinator for Table Rock Lake
Water Quality Inc.
“Nature has always treated waste and it’s really as easy
as that. The wastewater goes in one place and ends up in
another and in between, the water is cleared up. It’s
sounds complex, but it’s really not.”
The wetlands system, which will eventually be able to treat
12,000 gallons of wastewater per day, runs off of two ponds
that hold four types of vegetation, all indigenous to the
Ozarks.
Once the wastewater flows into the ponds, the roots of the
plants absorb some of the bacteria clinging to the rocks
that provide a surface for the ponds, beginning the process
of water treatment, said John Ogle, site coordinator for the
Shell Knob Senior Center Corp.
Each of the 32 apartments has its own septic tank, which
flows down to a central lift station. From there, the
wastewater flows into the system and enters through a
V-shaped pipe that sends water flowing into the two ponds
equally.
Pipes laid beneath a vinyl lining keep water in the system
flowing smoothly, helping the system operate and sending
wastewater through a series of cleaning stages.
The waste then flows to a pumphouse that includes an
ultraviolet testing unit and phosphorus removal system that
filters the water into a nearby ravine and eventually into
Table Rock Lake, less than a half-mile from where the
treatment process is going on.
The system, which took about 90 days to build, is tested
monthly and will eventually be evaluated on a stage-by-stage
basis by Table Rock Lake Water Quality. Data collected from
the system will make for broader use around the region,
Casaletto said.
The system was funded through a grant from the state
Department of Rural Development and meets Department of
Natural Resources standards. Casaletto said that the system
could soon be used to serve other clustered residential
areas, such as subdivisions, to allow one wastewater
treatment center to clean water coming from several sources.
“We felt like Shell Knob needed a senior center and we
felt like the senior center needed a quality wastewater
treatment. Table Rock Lake has always been important to us
and so (the system) really works well,” said Barry County
Presiding Commissioner Terry Warren.
A standard wastewater system for the 196 proposed residences
and coming Senior Center would have cost between $300,000
and $400,000 more than does the wetlands way of treating of
sewage.
The system is also expandable and could service another 100
housing units for an cost of $40,000.
“It’s a very cost-effective way of treating
wastewater,” Casaletto said. “We had to find a way to do
that.
“The Environmental Protection Agency finally realized that
there’s no big (city sewage) pipe coming, there’s no one
to put it in and there’s no money to put one in. So we
have to develop other ways of treating waste and this is one
of those ways that gets done.”
Visitors tour a natural wastewater
treatment
system near a Shell Knob senior housing
complex on Thursday.
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