Native fish swimming in treatment plant effluent. Floral and prairie plantings. Green roofs. Rain gardens. Walking paths through woods and wetlands.
These are just some of the ways clean-water plants make themselves appealing to visitors. The PlantScapes column in TPO reports on them regularly. What are you doing to make your plant an attraction?
Cultivating the garden
Most wastewater treatment plants reside outside or on the far edges of town, where residents rarely see them unless they make a special effort. Yet, some are beautiful places, and that stands to reason: Collection systems are designed to flow mainly by gravity, which means the treatment plant will be at a low point in the topography. Almost by definition, that puts it near a wetland or river.
Often, the settings are more than pleasant, but plant staffs aren’t content with just that. They cultivate, manicure and beautify, putting on a good face for the public, both on the grounds and inside the buildings.
A goodly number of treatment plants have flow-through aquariums where fish and other local water creatures live in final effluent. One of these is the Bangor (Maine) Wastewater Treatment Plant, which displays salmon in a tank in the plant lobby.
“Raising salmon in treated effluent has been a great demonstration of the benefits our citizens have received for their investment in treating wastewater,” observes plant superintendent Brad Moore after a 40-year anniversary open house last year.
Opening the gate
More often, treatment plants profiled on our pages attract or please visitors with wildlife preserves, and hiking trails and boardwalks on their own or surrounding public property. Others simply create a good impression with meticulous care of their grounds or attractive signs surrounded by plants and shrubs.
All of this is important. People coming to a treatment plant, whether for business reasons or on a tour for a grade school class or civic group, arrive not knowing what to expect. Often, they anticipate a boring or even unpleasant experience.
A plant tour led by an enthusiastic operator usually counteracts those expectations, showing people that what goes on in the plant is essential to the environment and quite interesting. Pleasant surroundings reinforce that message and demonstrate the concern and commitment of the staff.
Landscaping and interior spaces are part of the package that turns people who are unaware of or neutral toward wastewater treatment into advocates who will most likely step forward when the time comes for the agency to ask for money for expansions, upgrades or renovations.
Not every plant has the resources or the natural surroundings to create a spectacular bird-watching site or wildlife preserve. But every plant can take measures to improve the face it shows to the public. That’s the function of our PlantScapes column: to show plant managers and operators what is possible and what facilities of all kinds and sizes are doing.
Tell your story
So feel free to show and tell us your story in the spirit of helping others in the profession. Don’t assume we’re not interested unless you have a 1,000-acre park around your plant. We’re interested in all kinds of amenities aimed at beautifying your property and sending your public a message that you care about keeping the world green.
Send me a short description of your landscaping or your interior decor. I’ll respond, and you may get a chance to showcase your plant in a future issue of TPO. Just send your material to editor@tpomag.com, or call me at 877/953-3301.
