Reuse of Municipal Wastewater by Volunteer Fresh-Water Wetlands (Vermontville, Michigan)

摘要

The Vermontville, Michigan wastewater treatment system constructed in 1970-71 to treat domestic flows for a design service population of 975 is described. The system is based on stabilization pond-upland irrigation systems which were first designed in Michigan in response to rural community needs for affordable secondary-level treatment and phosphorous removal. Studies done at Vermontville include investigations on (1) water quality from the component collection and treatment facilities; (2) profiles of soils beneath the fields; (3) vegetation types, abundance, and communities; (4) vegetation biomass and phosphorous, and nitrogen uptake; (5) wet and wildlife habitat and comparison to ambient natural wetlands; (6) survivability of sensitive plant species; and (7) capital and O & M cost comparisons. Results of this work and of similar systems in other Michigan communities--Paw Paw, Kinross/Kincheloe, Lake Odessa, and Leoni Township--are presented. A major finding was that the plant-uptake is ineffective as a phosphorous-removal mechanism.