Huntington Town Cites Sewage Treatment Savings

Sara Walsh posted this article. It was written and reported by Pam Robinson.

Bugs are helping Huntington save money and improve wastewater treatment, town officials said Wednesday.

Town Supervisor Frank Petrone said that In-Pipe Technology's system of treating raw sewage through the use of bacteria had saved the town $68,000 and reduced nitrogen entering the plant by 67 percent.
Popular Stories. 

The Illinois company, hired by the town last year, introduces the bacteria through 42 locations throughout the sewage system.  The process reduces energy needed to process sewage at the plant. 

"We are always looking for new technologies that will keep the wastewater treatment plant state of the art becaue they save taxpayers money and help preserve the environment," Petrone said.

The town said the process had decreased the amount of sludge, which is eventually shipped to New Jersey, by 12 percent and that the plant's use energy to remove nitrogen decreased 26 percent.

Adrienne Esposito, who heads the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, said, "Huntington is implementing a crtiical upgrade, with less nitrogen in the Sound, which is the answer to the Sound's problems. We hope that this has a domino effect" on other municipalities.

Nitrogen "contributes to algal blooms, which consume oxygen as the algae die and decompose. The resulting low dissolved oxygen concentrations (hypoxia) adversely affect plant and animal populations in Long Island Sound," the U.S. Geological Survey noted in January. 

In-Pipe installed the system in April 2012.