What is treatment plant effluent good for? Replenishing groundwater. Irrigating lawns and landscapes. And now, making snow for ski trails.

The Morning Call newspaper in Allentown, Pa. reports that next winter, Bear Creek Mountain Resort and Conference Center in Macungie will make snow for its ski slopes using a water mixture that contains treated and disinfected effluent from the resort’s own wastewater treatment plant.

“Since 1999, Bear Creek has invested nearly $800,000 building its own wastewater treatment plant and water recycling infrastructure to serve its 116-room hotel and day visitors,” the news story said. The process includes primary and secondary treatment followed by UV disinfection.

From 52,000 to 250,000 gallons of effluent per day will be used for snowmaking, the amount depending on air temperature and natural snowfall. The effluent will used only at night when the slopes are empty of people.

The resort now sprays effluent into surrounding restricted-access woodlands. “(T)he ski area plans to mix the reclaimed wastewater 1:10 with runoff water from its traditional snow-making holding ponds and to use that mixture to make snow for its ski trails,” according to the newspaper. The state Department of Environmental Protection has approved the project.

At present, according to the newspaper, only handful of ski resorts in the U.S. use reclaimed water for snowmaking. They include two in Pennsylvania, two in Arizona, and one each in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Read more here:

"Bear Creek to Use Treated Effluent on Ski Trails"

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