Fellow Engineers,
The Tennessee Valley Authority has done pioneering work on septic
system design wherein the waste water or effluent is pumped alternately
between rock filled tanks. A bacterial slime quickly forms on the
surface of the rocks. The alternate pumping allows the bacteria to
oxygenate and switch their basic metabolism from anaerobic to aerobic.
In the aerobic mode the bacteria are at least ten times more efficient
at removing or reducing dissolved solids and reducing the oxygen
depleting effects of waste in water.
I believe that this basic technology can be adapted to clean and
oxygenate free flowing surface waters such as rivers and streams.
Designing a impoundments strewn with rocks is within my civil
engineering capabilities. However, for the system to work well there
must be at minimum two impoundments that can be alternately filled and
then drained on a two to four hour half cycle. Ideally the sluice gates
to handle this control function would be reliable, robust, easily
maintained and ideally self actuating.
Does anyone have any practical experience with such systems or an
interest in developing a working system. There is a large amount of
federal money set aside for mine waste de-acidification which is one
potential application. I am most interested in wildlife restoration and
flood control applications which also have some funding potentials.
Thank you,
Mr. Gee
Waterway regeneration
Re: Waterway regeneration
