Sure, you know we filter the wastewater… but did you know we filter the air?
Most of the water treatment done at our wastewater facility is biological, using natural microorganisms to breakdown waste. Composting is a big part of the system! All that compost produce odors, so the buildings where that happens have negative air pressure with the odors sucked out of the building and run through a wood chip bio filter to remove the smell.
So yes, we are filtering the air!
Every five years or so we replace the biological air filter with new chips to replace those that have broken down. All told, that amounts to about 1,500 yards of wood chips. But those chips are not wasted when they are done… they go to area nurseries where they use it for mulching and composting.
Last year over 1.59 billion gallons of wastewater was treated at our waste water treatment facility. Did you know the cost for sewer in Bennington for a single-family home is $51 a month? That’s about $12 less per month than the average monthly cost in the US.
This is not easy work and we are lucky to have talented and hard working employees to ensure that this critical part of our infrastructure works properly. If you’ve ever enjoyed trout fishing in the Walloomsac River, you can appreciate both how important this work is, and how well it’s being done.