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Groundbreaking Ceremony, April 19, 2000 MERTS Living Machine® History The proposed "greenhouse" project was recommended for the MERTS campus by Astoria City Council members in 1996. The system essentially relies on a series of tanks holding naturally-occurring plants, fish, snails, and other organisms to convert nutrient-rich wastewater to an effluent clean enough use as a non-potable water source for toilet flushing within the MERTS Phase ll facility (plumbed during its construction to facilitate recycled water sources), and to provide an alternative source for irrigating the native vegetation planted on the MERTS campus. Clatsop Community College and its consultants examined various options for wastewater treatment over the span of several months, appraising the cost of each. In evaluating the Living Machine® as an option, CCC looked at making the greenhouse large enough to accommodate the potential growth of the MERTS campus. It should also have the added benefit of drawing tourists and students to the area, as similar programs have elsewhere. The facility will demonstrate the viability of Living Machine®‚ technology for sewage treatment in Oregon by treating domestic wastewater from the MERTS campus facilities. Test data gathered through this process will provide the information necessary to potentially receive approval by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for use of this technology in other locations throughout the state. The Living Machine® is designed to meet DEQ’s effluent expectations for equivalent on-site treatment systems such as sand filters or recirculating gravel beds and Level ll reclaimed standards. The facility will be the first of its kind in the Pacific Northwest. This $946,000 project is funded primarily by a grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency and scheduled to be completed and operational by July 2001. The Congressional appropriation for this project was secured through the combined efforts of Congressman David Wu and former Congresswoman Elizabeth Furse, aided by senators Smith and Wyden. 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 through the Regional Strategies Fund Administered by the State of Oregon Economic Development Department. 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 Machines Inc., for the purposes of discussing the feasibility of siting a “Living Machine®‚” on the MERTS campus. The facility will be utilized for community outreach and education. It will also be integrated into instructional programs in county elementary and secondary schools in addition to environmental technology training courses at Clatsop Community College and other regional institutions. updated 3/26/01 Living Machine© Home | CCC Home