2019 Field Trips

Tour #1: High Strength Wastewater Tour

(max 35 attendees)

• 8:20 am
  Depart Hotel
• 9:00 am
  Arrive at NOOSA, facility tour followed by wastewater tour -- The NOOSA Yoghurt facility produces yoghurt from whole milk, honey and fresh fruit. The wastewater from this facility is high strength and is treated onsite at a facility operated by the company and discharged to the Cache la Poudre River. This tour will show the Yoghurt manufacturing facility and the wastewater facility.
• 11:30 am
  Depart NOOSA
• 12:00 pm
  Lunch at Charco Broiler
• 1:00 pm
  Arrive at New Belgium, wastewater tour followed by facility tour -- The New Belgium Brewery treats the high strength wastewater from its manufacturing facility on site before distribution to the municipal wastewater system. They have incorporated methane capture in the wastewater treatment processes. This tour will start with a walk through of the wastewater treatment facility that the company operates, followed by a brewery tour.
• 5:00 pm
  Return to Hotel

Tour #2: County Permitted Commercial OWTS Utilizing Higher Level Treatment

The half-day tour focuses on the importance of addressing strength of wastewater and soil type for design of commercial OWTS that will discharge to the soil.

• 8:00 am
  Depart Hotel
• 8:45 am - 9:45 am
  Bold RV Ranch, FAST unit with pressurized chambered trenches -- The effluent for the RV park was considered to be residential strength for the first phase of design. The RV park wanted to expand the RV park for additional units on a new onsite wastewater treatment system (OWTS). The update of Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment now requires BOD sampling and flow monitoring to justify lower flows than are described in the regulation. The daily flow monitoring showed lower flows than prescribed by regulation, but the effluent sampling indicated BOD concentrations higher than residential strength wastewater. A further look at the existing OWTS revealed ponding of effluent in the pressure dosed chambered soil treatment area. The second phase of the RV park was designed with a FAST treatment unit and additional soil treatment area to account for the high strength of the wastewater.
• 10:15 am - 11:15 am
  Johnson Auto Plaza, AdvanTex with Geoflow drip tubing -- The domestic wastewater effluent for the Johnson Auto Plaza is primarily restroom waste. The high strength wastewater characteristics of the waste was taken into consideration during design of the proposed onsite wastewater treatment system. The soil in the area of the facility is slow percolating clay, therefore a large drip dispersal soil treatment area was utilized.
• 12:00 pm
  Arrive back at hotel