P.O. BOX 497 / 1 SCHOOL STREET WOODS HOLE, MA 02543 508.548.2545 508.540.3962 fax TODDECOLOGICAL.COM

Background & Design The Sharon rest area, located on Vermont’s Interstate 89, is a welcome site for road-weary travelers and those in need of a cup of coffee. What visitors may not expect to find at this highway rest area is a state of the art greenhouse lush with tropical plants containing an Eco-Machine that is treating all of the site’s wastewater.

In the mid-1990’s, the Sharon rest area was threatened with being shut down because of problems with sewage drainage. The rest area is located in an isolated area with poor soils and rock ledges unsuitable for septic and leach fields. There was also no nearby municipal system to accept sewage.

A coalition of veterans lobbied Governor Howard Dean and Vermont legislature to spare the rest area which is also the site of Vermont’s Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial. A few years earlier, an Eco-Machine had been installed at the nearby Guilford, VT rest area. The State of Vermont, impressed with the solution, decided that an Eco-Machine was the answer to the Sharon rest area’s pressing need for onsite wastewater treatment. The Eco-Machine solution was also in line with Vermont’s ethic of environmental stewardship.

Waste Stream Domestic

Wastewater

Treated Flow 6,000 GPD

HRT (hours) 36

Treatment

Level Tertiary

Year Built 2008

Closed aerobic reactors, left, and open aquatic cells, right, surround the clarifier, center

I-89 Vietnam Veterans Memorial Rest Area Eco-Machine®

P.O. BOX 497 / 1 SCHOOL STREET WOODS HOLE, MA 02543 508.548.2545 508.540.3962 fax TODDECOLOGICAL.COM

John Todd, along with John Todd Ecological Design’s partner company, Living Technologies, designed and constructed the Eco-Machine for the Sharon rest area. Sewage from the rest area is treated to Vermont's reuse standards. ~77% of treated water is dyed blue and recycled as flush water in the toilets. The Eco-Machine is designed for continuous treatment throughout seasonal fluctuation in climate (hot summers and freezing winters) and flows that fluctuate with seasonal and weekend use. The use of an indoor aerobic treatment process reflect these design parameters. In the greenhouse, visitors can tour the Eco-Machine on a metal walkway above the plants. Signs explain the ecosystem processes occurring beneath them.

Treatment The Sharon rest stop Eco-Machine is designed to treat 6000 gallons per day of domestic sewage. Rest area wastewater flows first through a series of underground septic storage tanks which provide primary treatment and removal of settle-able solids. From the septic storage tanks effluent is dosed into closed aerobic reactors where waste-eating bacteria degrade organic compounds and odors are removed. From there, wastewater is pumped to three open aerobic cells. In these cells nutrient rich water forms the basis of a food web that includes an abundance of organisms from all five kingdoms of life. Microscopic algae, fungi, bacteria, protozoa, snails, fishes and zooplankton all thrive in the diverse aerobic environment of suspended plant roots and contribute to the consumption of remaining nutrients and the conversion of contaminants, cleaning products and pharmaceuticals into benign biomass and clean water. Final polishing is accomplished in a clarifier and any remaining solids are returned to the septic tank.

The Eco-Machine at the Sharon rest area not only successfully accomplishes onsite wastewater treatment, it serves as a model of ecological approach to municipal infrastructure, creating a beautiful public space and educational destination for travelers.

Viewing platforms allow visitors to experience the

system

The I-89 Eco-Machine is housed in a state of the art greenhouse