Treatment With Trees

A poplar plantation at an Oregon treatment plant saves on infrastructure costs and creates an aesthetically pleasing environment on neighboring land.

Jun 16, 2014 | by Jeff Smith |

Treatment With Trees — The City of Woodburn treatment plant team includes, from left, Craig Prosser, operator III; Larry Arendt, pretreatment; Nora Lillegard, laboratory technician; Jerry Tabler, maintenance technician; Curtis Stultz, plant supervisor; Jeff Hansen, chief maintenance technician; Alyssa Sullivan, clerk II; Ramon Garcia, operator I; Carol Leimbach, operator II; and Jordan Garner and Denes Josvay, utility II.

Trees, trees and more trees proved to be a natural solution for meeting tightened effluent ammonia limits at the City of Woodburn (Ore.) Wastewater Treatment Plant.Poplar trees — 41,000 of them — were planted in 1999 on 84 acres next to the 3.3 mgd (design) activated sludge plant. Flow averages 2.0 mgd from May through October, and during those months the poplars provide tertiary treatment with beneficial reuse for 1.0 mgd.“It works very well,” says Curtis Stultz, plant supervisor, who was part of a brainstorming session with city staff and consultant CH2M HILL that produced the idea. “We were just

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