WASTEWATER FACILITY TAKES ON NEW FUNCTION AS GENERATOR.Byline: Cecilia Chan Staff Writer Human waste will be recycled into electricity using a $2.6 million system, dedicated Wednesday, that is the first of its kind in California and one of only five in the world. The Las Virgenes Municipal Water District teamed with the Triunfo Sanitation District on the pollution-free project, which for now will provide electricity for two agencies. ``It's a totally new concept but if you think of it, it's a totally sensible concept,'' said Arlene Post, spokeswoman for the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District. ``You have waste gases that are produced as part of our daily living and this is making beneficial use of that waste gas.'' The project is financed by a $958,240 California Energy Commission The California Energy Commission is California’s primary energy policy and planning agency. Created in 1974 and headquartered in Sacramento, the Commission has responsibility for activities that include forecasting future energy needs, promoting energy efficiency through grant, plus $400,000 from the U.S. Department of Defense. The balance was covered by the two agencies, which expect to recoup recoup To sell an asset at a price sufficient to recover the original outlay or to offset a previous loss. their money in eight years by not having to buy power from an outside source. Two fuel cells - each the size of a large truck trailer - were installed this summer at the Rancho ran·cho n. pl. ran·chos Southwestern U.S. 1. A hut or group of huts for housing ranch workers. 2. A ranch. Las Virgenes Composting Facility, and went on line Sept. 8 without a hitch, said Carlos Reyes Carlos Reyes can refer to:
``There are still some items of work out there, but the fuel cells are on line,'' he said. After water is stripped from the human waste at a reclamation facility, the biosolids biosolids Sewage sludge, the residues remaining from the treatment of sewage. For use as a fertilizer in agricultural applications, biosolids must first be stabilized through processing, such as digestion or the addition of lime, to reduce concentrations of heavy metals and - about 65,000 each day - are then pumped to the composting facility. The biosolids go through an anaerobic digestion Anaerobic digestion (AD) is the natural process of biological degradation of organic material in the absence of air. An anaerobic digester is a man-made system that harnesses this process to treat waste and produce biogas and anaerobic digestate, a soil-improving material. process wherein bacteria break down the solids and give off methane gas, which fuels the cells that power the facility. The cells have a combined ability to generate enough power to serve the average needs of 300 households, although the power will be used in-house for now. ``When we don't run the composting operation at the composting plant, we actually make more power than what we need,'' said Reyes. ``So there is a potential in the future to sell that out there in the open market.'' Officials who attended the dedication Wednesday included California Energy Commissioner Michal Moore, who called the fuel cells the key technology for the new millennium. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (color in Verb 1. color in - add color to; "The child colored the drawings"; "Fall colored the trees"; "colorize black and white film" color, colorise, colorize, colour in, colourise, colourize, colour Simi edition only) A visitor gets a close-up look at the new fuel cells now powering two water agencies. Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer |
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