Microbe cannibals reduce Eagle Mountain sludge

EAGLE MOUNTAIN — The city's new wastewater reclamation facility takes sludge removal to a whole new level — a microscopic one.

Operating since January, the Eagle Mountain facility runs on a "cannibal" system, which uses a biological process to reduce biosolid waste production by as much as 90 percent. It is the first reclamation plant in Utah to use the technology and replaces the city's old facility, which had passed its handling capacity.

"We've been very pleased with this," said Chris Trusty, Eagle Mountain's public works director, as members of the Utah Water Quality Board toured the site Wednesday.

Rather than shipping the sludge off to a landfill or mixing it with green waste to form compost, the facility sends its solid waste through a complex process that causes the bacteria that make up the sludge to eat each other.

"By adjusting aeration … you can actually make the (bacteria) do certain things," said Darrel Dixon, a principal engineer who worked on the reclamation plant project. "You can actually cause different types of organisms to outcompete the others."

When the process is over, only a fraction of the original sludge output — 10 percent to 20 percent — will need to be dried and hauled away.

"That's a substantial cost saving," Dixon said.

Not having to ship off solid waste could save Eagle Mountain about $75,000 per year, and more than $100,000 per year could be saved in operation and maintenance costs, he said. And those savings are expected to grow over the years.

"As the plant increases in size, the overall savings is going to improve as well," Dixon said.

That increase in size is almost certain in a city known for its rapid growth. Right now, the facility can process up to 1.2 million gallons of water per day, but officials expect they will need to expand it just a decade from now.

"This should service (Eagle Mountain) for the next 10 years," Trusty said.

After that, he said, simply adding another ring to the facility's oxidation ditch and building a third water clarifier — all for about $2 million — would double the plant's capacity.

Mayor Heather Jackson said all of that is part of the plan.

"We were innovative in (getting) the cannibal system," Jackson said. "We planned for growth."

The reclamation facility will serve the southern half of Eagle Mountain. Wastewater from the city's northern half is shipped to the Timpanogos Special Service District in American Fork. Officials hope to eventually add a reuse portion to the plant, which would allow the city to use the processed water on its parks.

e-mail: jritter@desnews.com