To the editor:
I read with interest (and a bit of envy) the article about The Aquiary at the Broad Run Water Reclamation Facility in Ashburn, Va. (PlantScapes, TPO, July 2010). Two million dollars so far? Wow, it must be nice to be able to spend that kind of money on what is essentially landscaping.
My total annual landscaping budget at an 8 mgd plant, including snow removal, is about $25,000. I know, I know, the folks at Broad Run would argue that it is all about community relations and education.
Here in New Jersey, home of the highest property taxes in the nation, and where public employees are currently being vilified by the press and our own recently elected governor, $2 million on non-process-related equipment and infrastructure would be a real hard sell to my Board of Commissioners and our ratepayers in general.
I am currently installing a UV disinfection system with all the associated operating benefits like removing chlorine and sulfur dioxide from the plant and effluent stream for about $1.9 million. Most of the financing is either low-interest loans or grant money, and even that was a tough approval to get from the board.
I can’t imagine trying to get them to go for something like The Aquiary. Virginia is for lovers and I guess they bring a lot of money.
Dane J. Martindell
Facilities Manager
West Monmouth Utilities Authority
Manalapan, N.J.
