Tri-Cities Airport Using Worms to Solve a Huge Pollution Problem
If successful, this new system using worms will be used to solve this huge pollution problem at airports all over the world.
Tri-Cities Airport (PSC) Using Worms to Solve Pollution
The Tri-Cities Airport (PSC) has teamed up with BioFiltro to try a new theory to study the effectiveness of worm-powered wastewater treatment on airport de-icing wastewater. During the winter months, de-icing is heavily used and very important for aircraft safety. The de-icing fluids are made of ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, and a few other ingredients known to be potentially dangerous for the environment. In the past, the airport has collected the de-icing wastewater and then transported it to the Pasco Wastewater Treatment Facility to clean it of potentially dangerous elements. Now the treatment facility is having trouble keeping up with the amount of de-icer produced and asked the airport to try and find a different solution to take care of the de-icing wastewater.
Tri-Cities Airport Teams Up with BioFiltro and Their Worms
Now the airport has teamed up with BioFiltro to treat the wastewater onsite with a never-before-attempted energy-efficient treatment system using worms. Yes, they will use regular earthworms to clean the wastewater. If this first-of-its-kind experimental pilot program is successful, it will most likely be used by the entire aviation industry. They are using a 90 square box with BioFiltro’s patented Biodynamic Aerobic (BIDA) system to treat small amounts of deicing wastewater for 180 days. The technology BioFiltro’s BIDA system is a bed of wood shavings mixed with lots of earthworms and microbial organisms. The worms turn the potentially dangerous nutrients into worm castings while still maintaining the biofilm which is important to the biological wastewater cleaning process. If the first trial is successful, the team will attempt a full-scale system that could lead to this process being adapted by the entire aviation industry to clean de-icing fluid.
More Info About BioFiltro
"BioFiltro is a wastewater treatment company based in Davis, Calif., with a patented, worm-powered filtration system that naturally removes up to 99% of contaminants in four hours. A carbon-neutral company, BioFiltro offers climate-smart, nature-based environmental solutions to industries and communities of all sizes. Their systems specialize in the removal of organic matter, nutrients, and salts, the most commonly regulated and enforced wastewater constituents." Learn more at www.biofiltro.com.