The Case For Decentralized Wastewater Treatment

Is on-site wastewater treatment the wave of the future? Two representatives from Infiltrator Water Technologies discuss the benefits.

Project Engineer Jessica Kautz and Technical Director Dennis Hallahan work for the world’s largest decentralized wastewater company, Infiltrator Water Technologies. They sat down with Water Online Radio’s Todd and Kelly to discuss the growing market for on-site treatment, and why it makes sense.

In these times of drought, one driver is water availability. Kautz explained how on-site systems help mitigate scarcity.

“From a logical standpoint, if you’re using water from a specific site, it makes the most amount of sense to be able to put it back where you’re getting it from,” she said. “When you talk about centralized wastewater treatment and centralized water, you’re talking water from one area and transporting it across many miles to get it to a different area.

“When you talk about on-site wastewater treatment, you’re taking the water that you’re pulling from your own aquifer; you’re using it and you’re putting it back into the ground where it came from, which then recharges the aquifers that you’re drawing your water from.

“We have a big ability to recharge aquifers on-site, to get that water back into the ground, especially in coastal areas where you see a lot of saltwater intrusion. Using an on-site system and an on-site drain field really has the ability to decrease those falling water tables to recharge the aquifers.”

And they’re not just small systems anymore.  Hallahan talked about the increasing capacity, which has opened doors for the technology.

“Historically, they’ve been much smaller systems,” Hallahan acknowledged, “but now, with the advent of new products and technologies, we’re able to expand and upscale the systems. We’re seeing systems being installed now in excess of a million gallons a day, which is very, very large for an on-site wastewater system.

“But again, taking that water instead of just flushing it out to the sea or river, if we can put it back into the ground and recharge local aquifers, then it’s a great benefit to the environment.”

Kautz and Hallahan discussed additional environmental benefits, including the carbon footprint of on-site systems vs. concrete infrastructure, and how the former works to keep nutrients out of waterways. Tune in below to hear more.