Day 7- 5/28/14 Where Does Waste Go?

Stages of Water Treatment

Bacteria Being Added to the Contaminated Water

Today we went on an adventure to the Albany County Sewer plant. When I first herd about this trip I was annoyed and I am not going to lie I thought about being "sick" for this. All that kept running through my head on the way to the sewer plant was the kid from the magic school bus who always said "I knew I should have stayed home today!" After arriving to the sewer plant Craig explained there are many processes that waste goes through before being clean enough to go into the river. When the water is gone through the whole process it is 95 percent more clean than when it started in the plant. The tour of the plant was amazing! It was so interesting to learn the different stages of water treatment. This tour was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. One of the most fascinating parts in my opinion is when we saw the bacteria being added into the contaminated water. It is amazing how many bacteria are added to the water. The coolest part is after the bacteria are done "feasting" the are taken out of the water to start the process over again. The bubbles on top of the water is oxygen that is coming from the bottom of the water. Bacteria need oxygen to survive so in the water there is oxygen channels adding oxygen to the water. The bacteria also break down ammonia (NH3) and release nitrogen and hydrogen into the air. After the water is cleaned it is then put into the Hudson River. I was amazed that I was actually interested in what was going on throughout the plant. A tour that I was dreading ended up being one of our best trips yet. This just teaches me a lesson that has been told to me for many years now, don't judge a book by its cover. Even though the sewage plant sounds disgusting, there was a lot of great science and education to learn about with it. Even thought the smell was awful the tour was really great. While on the tour though I was so afraid to touch anything and just felt so dirty. I was afraid to touch anything even the railing. As soon as I could I took a shower and felt instantly better. I also could not get the odor of the sewage plant out of my nose. All day it seemed all I could smell was that dreadful odor but it definitely was worth the trip learning the educational background and what goes on with waste. Many people including myself take advantage of water. When flushing the toilet, I would just walk away, however, after seeing the sewage plant I will have that in my head while using the bathroom.

Precious and Toby standing near the generator

This generator is used to power the sewage plant. I found this very interesting because it came from Italy. The generator came over on a boat and traveled up the Hudson River which is what we are studying. This just shows that the Hudson River is still very important for transportation today.