People don’t typically think of wastewater treatment plants as local attractions, but they do in Escambia County, Fla. There, a 1.5-mile boardwalk at the Bayou Marcus Water Reclamation Facility lets visitors tour a natural wetland in style and comfort.
The boardwalk at the extended aeration, activated sludge treatment facility owned by the Emerald Coast Utility Authority (ECUA) near Pensacola, Fla., attracts walkers, joggers, bicyclists, bird enthusiasts, dog walkers, tourists, and others who want to be one with nature — to a degree.
As plant manager Steve Woods says, the boardwalk allows people to “take a walk through a real northwest Florida wetland without getting their feet muddy.”
Opportunity knocks
The history of the boardwalk is rooted in a plant expansion and environmentalism effort that began in the early 1990s. At that time, the ECUA took control of 1,010 acres of freshwater, forested wetlands that had been decimated by questionable logging practices.
Before the plant expansion began, the developer had drained the wetlands and cleared the land to make way for a marina and golf course. However, those plans didn’t work out, and ECUA acquired the land as part of its plans to expand capacity at the Bayou Marcus plant from 2.0 to 8.2 mgd. At the same time, the authority set out to restore the wetland area to its natural state.
Something had to be done, says Woods, who hunted the land as a teenager. “We knew our little plant wasn’t going to be able to keep pace with the area’s growth, so we saw opportunity knocking and basically said, ‘We’ll fix it,’” he says.
Access with a view
With plans in place, ECUA built a 10,000-foot effluent pipeline system to discharge reclaimed water to the Bayou Marcus receiving wetland. The pipeline system includes 4,200 feet of above-ground pipe, which eliminated a host of problems that go with drainage in swampy land.
Planners built the boardwalk to provide access to the pipeline and effluent discharge areas where personnel routinely perform maintenance and monitoring. The structure also supports the above-ground pipe, which is dispersed to the wetland via seven separate zones. Yet the boardwalk also fulfills another primary mission: allowing people to experience the area’s natural beauty.
The expansive boardwalk, which rests on 890 pre-stressed concrete pilings, is built with 7,748 linear feet of treated wood. It also includes 100,000 feet of decking made up of 12,000 individual boards, plus 47,000 feet of boards for handrails and trim.
Completed in 1998, the Bayou Marcus WRF now discharges an average of 5.2 mgd to the northern half of the wetland system, which features 650 acres of black titi, slash pine, blackgum, gallberry, Atlantic white cedar, bald cypress, and various bays with an abundance of animals, including a diverse bird population.
Labor of love
By discharging the high-quality effluent, the plant has helped transform the land from a virtual moonscape to a nature-lover’s paradise. Woods considers the boardwalk a key part of the reclamation’s success.
“We have dozens of people using the boardwalk every day,” he says. “We have locals visit, people visit with their kids, and we even have birdwatchers coming in from all parts of the world to use it.” Recently, the plant secured a $15,000 grant from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to enhance the boardwalk as part of the Great Florida Birding Trail.
The boardwalk, Woods says, instills goodwill among plant ratepayers. However, it comes with a price, since Woods and his staff invest a considerable amount of time and effort maintaining the boardwalk.
“Think of it this way,” he says. “It’s out in a swamp with 100 percent humidity and temperatures that range from 30 to 110 degrees F, combined with the sun and a wet environment. So there are boards that have to be replaced.”
Additional work is also needed to keep the boardwalk free and clear of weeds and brush. What does the staff think of the boardwalk? “They’d probably rather not have it, because it’d be that much less work,” says Woods. But he quickly adds that the same crew also appreciates what the boardwalk means for the plant and the community.
“It’s part of the strategy to be a good neighbor,” he says. “It’s a functioning part of the plant, but it’s also a gift to the public. We’d be nuts not to do it.”
Visitors to the Pensacola area can find directions to the Bayou Marcus WRF boardwalk by calling the Boardwalk Information Line at 850/458-1658.
