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Pitt-Bradford Students Plant Reed Beds at Sewage Treatment PlantAnne HollidayJuly 18, 2019 10:55 am

Last week, more than a dozen college students, walked slowly back and forth in huge sunken sand pits at the Bradford Sanitary Authorityplanting reeds.

College students planting reeds at the Bradford Sanitary Authority last week as part of an ongoing improvement process at the facility. Most of the students attend the

University of Pittsburgh at Bradford.

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The new reed beds will help the authority process sewage with less energy and money. In an adjacent sand pit, reeds that had beenplanted by the environmental studies students from the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford last month, already stood a couple of feethigh.

Until recently, the sand pits had been part of the sewage treatment plant’s system for reducing ammonia in its treated wastewater beforeit is returned to the Tunungwant Creek. As part of major upgrades at the plant, new processes are able to do the same thing more quicklyand replace sand pit ammonia-removal system.

Jack Rae, the authority’s consulting engineer from Gannett Fleming, said that he realized the pits might work for the construction of a reedbed and contacted Scott Davis of the Constructed Wetlands Group.

Davis explained that reed beds dry out the sludge produced by the wastewater treatment process more e�ciently than mechanicalmeans. The sludge will be sprayed over the four acres of reed beds. Nourished by the sludge, the reeds will grow quickly to 10 to 12 feethigh. The reeds’ roots will absorb water, and the plants will release the moisture into the atmosphere through small pores in a processcalled evapotranspiration.

Additionally, the reeds support an active micro�ora (“bugs”) within their dense root system that continually break down the sludge,resulting in a well-degraded soil like compost at the end of the 8-to-10 year cycle.

The reeds should reach maturity by November. “This will look like a corn �eld on steroids,” said Rick Brocius, executive director of theauthority.

The reeds will remove so much of the water from the sludge that just a thin, crusty layer will remain. In the winter, the reeds will die backand be burned away, but the sludge can continue to be applied during the freeze-thaw cycle. In the spring, the reeds return and the cyclecontinues.

The beds essentially eliminate the need to truck sludge to the land�ll, Davis explained. The authority can keep applying layers of sludge tothe four acres of reed beds at Bradford for what Davis estimates will be 10 years. At that point, one bed can be emptied each year andreeds replanted.

In addition to removing water from the sludge, the reeds are also able to eliminate some harmful substances, such as heavy metals. It ispossible, Davis said, that the remaining solids might even have a further bene�cial use, such as being applied as topsoil to mine drainageor farming.

Davis suggested using college students with an interest in the environment to plant the reeds.

Emily Reams, an environmental studies major from Bradford, was one of them. Reed bed planting is just one of the environmentalprojects she is working on this summer. She is also the sustainability coordinator intern for Pitt-Bradford.

Reams said she was concerned that the genus of reed being used, phragmites, is an invasive species in Pennsylvania. She said thatConstructed Wetlands sent pamphlets explaining that phragmites spreads through rhizomes, lateral growing stems that put out rootsunderground. Because it does not spread through seed easily, there is little risk that the reeds would take root outside the constructedreed bed.

Davis said his group would continue to monitor the beds and the creek for signs that the reeds are spreading.

Satis�ed with the answers, Reams supports the project. “Here we’re treating the bio solids, and it’s a low-energy system for a high-valuereturn.”

Lester Perry was a sociology major from Philadelphia planting reeds. He was interested in the project because he has taken some classesin plants and sociology. Perry grew up in Liberia, where he said natural methods are preferred. “We don’t use a lot of chemicals andpesticides to grow,” he said.

“I thought this was a cool idea, and I’m happy to help the process.”

Dr. Stephen Robar, director of the environmental studies program, was pleased that students had a chance to take part in the installationof a green industrial system and make a little money, too.

“It’s invaluable for students to see how an environmental management project like this works,” he said.

Davis explained that reed beds dry out the sludge produced by the wastewater treatment process more e�ciently than mechanicalmeans. The sludge will be sprayed over the four acres of reed beds. Nourished by the sludge, the reeds will grow quickly to 10 to 12 feethigh. The reeds’ roots will absorb water, and the plants will release the moisture into the atmosphere through small pores in a processcalled evapotranspiration.

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Additionally, the reeds support an active micro�ora (“bugs”) within their dense root system that continually break down the sludge,resulting in a well-degraded soil like compost at the end of the 8-to-10 year cycle.

The reeds should reach maturity by November. “This will look like a corn �eld on steroids,” said Rick Brocius, executive director of theauthority.

The reeds will remove so much of the water from the sludge that just a thin, crusty layer will remain. In the winter, the reeds will die backand be burned away, but the sludge can continue to be applied during the freeze-thaw cycle. In the spring, the reeds return and the cyclecontinues.

The beds essentially eliminate the need to truck sludge to the land�ll, Davis explained. The authority can keep applying layers of sludge tothe four acres of reed beds at Bradford for what Davis estimates will be 10 years. At that point, one bed can be emptied each year andreeds replanted.

In addition to removing water from the sludge, the reeds are also able to eliminate some harmful substances, such as heavy metals. It ispossible, Davis said, that the remaining solids might even have a further bene�cial use, such as being applied as topsoil to mine drainageor farming.

Brocius said he would welcome Pitt-Bradford professors and students back to study the reed beds as well since they are known to attractcertain insects, such as aphids, and nesting water birds.

 

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