Wastewater treatment plant in Stevens Point, WI. Image courtesy: WAOW TV
STEVENS POINT, WI (WSAU-WAOW) – Stevens Point is earning statewide recognition for renewable energy.
The city was recently awarded the American Council of Engineering Companies “Wisconsin Engineering Excellence Best of State” recognition for turning waste into biosolids, or what makes up fertilizer.
Processes that run through multiple buildings make it all work, one of which cools and heats itself.
Mayor Mike Wiza says the self-sufficient nature of the facility will save the city and taxpayers thousands of dollars in the long run. “We’re utilizing the resources that we have on site: the methane gas from the process and using that to either run a biogas generator to generate electricity or to use it to run the heat pumps, or to use it to dry the product,” he said.
The machine that dries out the moisture in the solids that run through the system is the first of its kind in the state. Officials are likening the whole process to be more known as “resource reclamation.”
They are not yet at a point where they can sell the fertilizer that comes out of the facility, though Wiza says that may come soon.
Comments