By Kristin Bigsby

A private donor is funding a $20,000 feasibility study for an environmentally friendly sewage treatment plant in Haines.

The assembly learned of the gift last week from water quality consultant Gershon Cohen, who has been hired to help coordinate the study.

Cohen said the resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, learned of the project last year. Cohen said he discussed the prospect with then-borough manager Marco Pignalberi, but no funding source was identified. "(The donor) thought it would be an interesting idea to look into," Cohen said.

He said the innovative "solar aquatic" treatment process works without chemicals to create up to 80 percent less sludge and discharge than current systems. "I’d like to see it happen in Haines."

The new system, created by an East Coast corporation called Ecological Engineering, is similar to traditional sewage treatment plants in that waste is transferred through a series of tanks that separate and filter waste.

The patented solar aquatic system uses living organisms, such as bacteria, snails, fish, algae and other plants, to consume the waste in a series of increasingly complex ecosystems.

"The more they eat, the less is left," Cohen said. "Eventually it turns out a product that…meets drinking water standards."

A solar aquatic plant in Haines would be the first of its kind in Alaska, said David Johnson, an environmental engineer with the Department of Environmental Conservation’s drinking water and wastewater program.

Currently, sewage treatment plants in Soldotna and Kenai use bacteria to treat wastewater, but the scope of this new biological treatment project is much greater, he said. Prior to an interview with the Chilkat Valley News, Johnson had not heard of the solar aquatic system. "Sounds interesting," he said.

So far, approximately 20 of the solar aquatic systems have been built in the United States, Europe and Canada, said David DelPorto, president of Ecological Engineering.

The northernmost project is under construction in Alberta, Canada, and will test the effects of cold weather and limited light conditions.

"They’re confident it’s going to work," Cohen said. "If it can deal with the cold of Southeast Alaska is not an issue… But they’ll have to supplement these northern plants with lights (for the plants) in the winter. The engineering study will look into it more."

Cohen said he learned of the innovative technology in the mid-90s when he visited a solar aquatic plant in Providence, R.I. for lunch.

At the time, the plant was treating half of Providence’s wastewater, "very successfully," Cohen said.

"These plants are very pleasant places to be," Cohen said. "I walked into a greenhouse, with birds and tropical plants, and picnic tables. It was like being in a botanical garden, an extremely pleasant place to be. The atmosphere was rich in oxygen, and it was somewhat euphoric."

The feasibility study should be complete in three to four months, said Cohen, who will work with ith engineers to gather information. Aside from his experience in water quality, Cohen has a bachelor’s degree in microbiology, a master’s degree in molecular biology and a Ph.D. in environmental policy. He’s worked more than 10 years as a water quality consultant.

The feasibility study will provide an overview of current and projected flow rates for Haines’ existing sewage treatment plant, evaluate current and desired performance, assess possible locations, and make suggestions for plants that will flourish at this latitude, among other things.

From there, DelPorto and his crew of engineers will process the Haines data and begin drafting plans for a possible solar aquatic plant here. Likely, the existing sewer plant will serve as a pre-treatment system. The downstream ‘ecosystems’ would be constructed in a greenhouse-type atmosphere to "eat up the waste," DelPorto said.

The effluent, or discharge remaining from the treatment process, would be suitable for recycling. For example, it could be used for toilet water or irrigation purposes, DelPorto said.

"It’s extremely high quality water," DelPorto said. "Systems that are ecologically engineered do a better job than those systems designed by man. The reason for that is that over the last 3.9 billion years, nature, or life, has evolved to develop a relationship between microorganisms that live in soils and plants such that they work together to optimize efficiency for energy and nutrition. We rely on those (microorganisms) to do cleanup, and as engineers, have created an environment in which this can happen."

Currently, the local sewage plant processes 250,000 gallons of sewage per day, said Scott Bradford, Haines’ sewer and water treatment plant operator. Waste is screened and settled, without the use of biological activity. Effluents are "dumped into the bay," Bradford said, referring to an outfall at Portage Cove. Sludge, the more solid leftover, is hauled to Haines Sanitation where it is used to operate the composting system.

Bradford learned of the solar aquatic treatment last fall.

"If it works as advertised, it certainly would be better for the environment," he said. "After the study is done, there’ll be more information to discuss."

One potential saving Bradford pointed out was that, if the solar aquatic treatment did produce a discharge product of "excellent quality," any effluents—though there would be little or none with the new treatment plant—could be rerouted to Sawmill Creek. He said the Small Boat Harbor expansion project underway in Portage Cove requires that the outfall be moved in order to proceed with construction. The move would be "fairly expensive," he said, but without a need for the outfall, the issue would somewhat absolve.

After the engineering group has the study in hand, the next step will be to return to the borough assembly with the feasibility report.

"If they think this would be a neat thing to have in Haines, we’ll raise the money and build the plant," Cohen said. "I know going into this the assembly is not going to hand me money. It’s not a $10,000 project. It’s an expensive proposition."

DelPorto could not estimate a projected cost for the Haines plant. Costs are dependent on a number of factors, including the amount of sewage processed.

A number of federal agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency are discussing the possibility of a pilot project in Alaska, which, along with grants, could pay completely for the plant, Cohen told the borough assembly. Cohen anticipates substantial funding will be provided for the project.