Waterworks Blog
Disinfection and Testing — the Final Steps in Wastewater Treatment
October 18, 2019Over the past several months, we’ve talked about why wastewater must be treated, and detailed each step in the treatment process at Allentown’s Kline’s Island Wastewater Treatment Plant. Now we’ve come to the final treatment step: disinfection, in which we use a chlorine solution to kill pathogenic (disease-causing) microorganisms before the wastewater is released into…
Tertiary Nitrification: How Ammonia Is Removed From Wastewater
October 3, 2019In our last post, we explained how plastic media filters remove contaminants during secondary treatment. Today we’re going to talk about the next level of treatment, which removes ammonia through a process called tertiary nitrification. As you can see from the picture above, it’s probably not what you imagine when you think of water treatment!…
How Is Liquid Waste Treated? It’s All About Biology
September 16, 2019As part of our ongoing series explaining the wastewater treatment process, we’ve discussed how solids are removed from wastewater, how we use waste to create energy, what happens to the byproducts of treatment, and even what happens to things that should not be flushed. Now we’re going to explain what happens to the liquid waste:…
Fire Hydrant Maintenance — Yup, We Do That, Too
August 23, 2019LCA crews have been hard at work this summer, flushing, painting and repairing hydrants throughout the city of Allentown. Maintaining hydrants is an important and ongoing task. Our crews inspect and test over 900 hydrants every year so that they’re in peak condition in case the fire department needs them. We look for leaks, check…
Eight Simple Steps to Protect Water Quality
August 13, 2019It’s National Water Quality Month — a perfect time to learn what you can do to help protect the sources we all rely on for clean, high-quality water. Here are eight easy steps that you can take to make a difference today: Wash your car at a car wash: Even though it might cost more than…
When You Clean Your Car, Keep Our Waterways Clean, Too
July 2, 2019It’s that time of year when many of us grab a hose, a rag and a bucket of soapy water to give our cars a good scrub. And while it’s great to find out your vehicle really isn’t that shade of muddy-gray you’ve gotten so used to seeing, washing your car yourself comes with a…
The Sludge Report: What Happens After Treatment?
June 19, 2019If you’re a regular visitor, you’ll know we’ve been doing a series of posts explaining how wastewater is treated. In our last post, we talked about why it needs to be treated — and what happens when it’s not. Today, we’re going to discuss one of the byproducts of treatment: sewage sludge. Sewage sludge is a…
Kline’s Island Gets New Electrical Substation as Part of Infrastructure Update
May 14, 2019The new Kline’s Island substation, above, includes provisions for additional power demands in the future. It’s National Infrastructure Week — a time to #BuildForTomorrow and “highlight the state of our nation’s infrastructure – roads, bridges, rail, ports, airports, water and sewer systems, the energy grid, telecoms, and more.” We usually think of water infrastructure…
Why Does Wastewater Need to be Treated?
May 1, 2019Above, untreated wastewater pollutes a waterway in India. If you’ve been following along, you’ll know we’ve been doing a series of posts explaining how wastewater is treated. In our last one, we talked about how solids are removed from wastewater, then sent to the primary settling tanks for stabilization and treatment. What we haven’t covered…
Sludge 101: How Solids Are Removed From Wastewater
April 5, 2019Ever been curious about how water gets to your tap? Ever wonder what happens after you flush the toilet? Join us for our series of semi-regular posts in which to try to demystify the process. This is our fourth in the series. In our last post, we talked about the screening process — how we get…