Hardly anyone noticed the Waterville (N.Y.) Wastewater Treatment Plant until head operator Louie Langone started offering free compost. “I had people say they’d driven past the plant for years and didn’t even know we were here,” says Langone, 55, who pretty much operates the 0.3 million gallon per day extended aeration facility by himself. “But now they come in to pick up compost for their gardens or yards, and they can’t believe how clean and well-kept the place is.”Langone started composting the plant’s biosolids in 2000, and a brief article in the local newspaper kicked off a wave of interest.
