Dedication for Phase III, the Wastewater Treatment / Demonstration Training Laboratory January 19, 2002
The first of its kind in the Northwest, the Living Machine®, a Wastewater Treatment
/ Demonstration Training Laboratory, consists of a series of tanks (reactors) housing
a diverse ecology including microorganisms, vegetation, insects, worms, fish, and
snails suspended in an aquatic environment that mimics the natural biological processes
to clean and polish wastewater flows. The Living Machine® is now treating the
wastewater generated at the MERTS campus, producing clean effluent, which will soon
be recycled for flushing toilets, irrigation and other non-potable uses. In addition
to offering extensive research opportunities, the facility offers public tours, educational
opportunities and demonstration capabilities.
Funding for the Wastewater Treatment / Demonstration Training Laboratory was made
possible through a Congressional appropriation, which was secured through the combined
efforts of Congressman David Wu and former Congresswoman Elizabeth Furse. The appropriation
led to a grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency. The preliminary proposal
and design was funded in part by a grant from the Rose E. Tucker Charitable Trust
and in part with a Northwest Oregon Economic Alliance grant from the Oregon State
Lottery Regional Strategies Fund. In the spring of 1996, Shore Trust Trading Group
of Ilwaco, Washington sponsored the first visit to the MERTS campus site by representatives
of Living Technologies Inc., for the purposes of discussing the feasibility of siting
a Living Machine® on the MERTS campus.
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