The Delhi Charter Township Wastewater Treatment Plant has an open invitation to all. For the past nine years, the plant has held an Open House and Re-Use Rally in May to coincide with Water Quality Awareness Week.
“It’s a way to bring the community in to see a place they don’t typically see,” says Allen Bryant, environmental coordinator at the plant, in Holt, south of Lansing. “We want them to see that we’re a part of the community and what their sewer bills pay for.”
The event is free, including hotdogs, hamburgers, and snow cones, and is open to anyone. While it’s geared toward elementary school children, older kids and adults learn things, too.
Influent to effluent
Plant tours begin every 30 minutes. A large green tractor pulls a hay wagon load of visitors across the grounds. An employee, usually Sandra Diorka, plant superintendent and director of public services, leads the expedition.
Over a megaphone, she describes the physical, biological, and chemical processes in the tertiary treatment plant. While visitors can’t see the plant discharge, they learn that the effluent flows to the Grand River and eventually to Lake Michigan.
Visitors have time to step off the wagon and take a closer look at the processes. They are also encouraged to visit a treatment system demonstration when they finish the tour. The demonstration, presented by a plant operator, includes a plant schematic along with samples from each step of the treatment process. A microscope lets visitors see the microorganisms they learned about on the tour.
Plant tours are available year round, but one day a year it’s part of a celebration. Videos from last year’s tour and demonstrations are posted on the township’s Web site and on social networking sites like Facebook.
Flyers advertising the event are sent with utility bills, posters are put up in town, press releases are sent, and plant personnel do interviews on TV and radio. It works: The highest turnout was 800 in 2008.
