A small plant in Atlanta that uses hydroponics to treat wastewater saves money for its host by producing reclaimed water that can be used in place of potable water for boilers and cooling towers and for toilet flushing.
The 400,000-gpd WaterHub on the Emory University campus was developed by Sustainable Water, a private company based in Glen Allen, Virginia. One part of the plant looks like a greenhouse, and the other part looks like a park with raised-bed gardens.
The treatment process is based partly on hydroponics; plants essentially grow in the wastewater stream. The plants consume some of the
