Students Learn About Water Treatment, Jobs at Wastewater Plant

From left, fourth-grader Kyra Kolatski, fifth-grader Jessica Beaune, and sixth grader Hailey Bean peer into the final purifier tanks on a May 21 school field trip to the Mackinac Island Wastewater Treatment Plant. It takes 20 to 28 days for the wastewater to be processed through the plant's cycle. Students from kindergarten through seventh grade toured Mackinac Island's Wastewater Treatment Plant on Stonecliffe Road Monday, May 21, to learn about conservation and where everything goes with every flush of the toilet.

Amidst plugged noses and occasional grimaces, the children huddled around laboratory manager Jay Davis as he took them by each tank to show the 20-day to 28-day path sewage takes from being flushed down the toilet to being filtered and recycled back to the Great Lakes.

"It was cool seeing where all the water went," said fourthgrader Dana Roguska.

And the children listened to Mr. Davis as he talked about the path it takes at the plant, from the original tank, or head works, to the circular primary purifiers that separate the solids from liquid, and eventually to the final purifiers, before the water is disinfected and sent back out into the lake.

"It was really cool to find out what our lake was made of," said sixth-grader Collin Armstrong.

Mr. Davis said the plant pumps about 60,000 gallons of water a day in the winter months and as much as 800,000 gallons a day in the prime tourist months. Right now, the plant pumps around 500,000 gallons a day.

"Last summer was one of the lowest average flows we've had, just because tourism was down in general," Mr. Davis said. "Tourism was down, the hotels weren't full, (and) we're not getting the flow of the restaurants."

The children were also taken into the area where Mr. Davis conducts tests every day to determine if the water meets environmental standards before being pumped back out into the lake. He works in that room about four hours each day.

"I felt that was pretty neat, with all those chemicals and stuff," said sixth-grader Louis Clark.

Among the necessary tests is a phosphorus evaluation that takes Mr. Davis about two hours to conduct.

"I like it," he said. "I'm doing my part to help the environment, keep the water clean. I swim in that water, I drink that water, I want to keep it clean."

Mr. Davis' tour was met with enthusiasm and overall enjoyment from the children.

"It's cool looking at poop," said fifth-grader Adrienne Rilenge.

Although some continued to grimace from the occasional draft of unpleasant smells, others didn't seem to mind.

"It smells like the beach," observed fourth-grade student Meadow Greenlee.

And according to Mr. Davis, if everything is working right, it shouldn't smell foul.

"If things are operating the way they should be," he said, "it should never smell at all. It should smell like freshly plowed earth."

Aside from educating the children on the way things work, kindergarten and firstgrade teacher Vicki Urman said that it's important for students to see what things the island has to offer.

"We also want to show them some of the jobs in our community," she said. "I want to show them the kind of skills you need.

"Also, I want them to know what's happening. We want them to know about how many times you flushed the toilet and those long showers."

According to Mr. Davis, the 35-year-old Wastewater Treatment Plant could be in store for a possible upgrade.

"There's been talk over the past few years to get some improvements done, maybe build a whole new plant, and that's going to cost between eight and 12 million dollars," he said.

Currently, the plant has a capacity to handle about 920,000 gallons of water daily, a number that the plant came close to reaching years ago when the Island was in its peak tourist season.

Aside from the Wastewater Treatment Plant, another yeararound task of the Department of Public Works that fluctuates with seasonal tourism is the amount of garbage and solid waste that people accumulate.

The DPW asks that citizens to sort their waste into three separate categories: blue bags for garbage that will go to the landfill, clear bags for organic waste that can be composted, and blue tubs for recyclables.

The waste is sorted in the Solid Waste Handling Facility off British Landing Road and distributed appropriately from then on.

Proper bags are available for purchase on the second floor of Community Hall at the DPW office weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Blue bags are available for $3 each, clear bags for $1.50, and recycling tubs are free to Island residents.