This month on “Wonderful Water” join 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck for a conversation with Jennifer Hunter, laboratory supervisor at OWASA‘s Mason Farm wastewater treatment plant, for a discussion about the annual OWASA wastewater quality report card.

According to OWASA, the roughly 3 billion gallons of wastewater treated every year has once again “met or surpassed state and federal regulations” — a statement backed up by the 2020 report card.

As concerns around COVID-19 continue, OWASA’s water service has remain largely unchanged — though, according to Hunter, there is one thing that’s become more of an issue than ever before.

“A really big thing that’s happened since COVID, probably the biggest thing we’ve been seeing on the wastewater end, is flushable wipes,” said Hunter. “I can’t stress enough that there’s no such thing as ‘flushable’ wipes. People have been using wipes more often since COVID, and bless them for doing so, just please throw them in the garbage.”

“The wastewater goes through extensive clarification, filtration and disinfection processes,” said Hunter. “Once it exits the plant, some of it is discharged into Morgan Creek. It’s cleaned to a very high quality standard and it’s safe for the environment and for communities downstream of us. Eventually it makes its way to Jordan Lake, the Cape Fear river and the Atlantic.”

Maintaining strict procedures for wastewater treatment and management isn’t just important to keeping our community pipes clean, according to Hunter. Ensuring that the water we use is well cared for is crucial to maintaining a healthy world.

“All of the world’s water system is interconnected and interdependent, and it’s shared by everybody … The end goal of wastewater treatment is to ensure that our used and treated water does not have an adverse impact on the environment downstream of us. Ultimately, there’s no such thing as new water, all the water that you have today is the same water that the dinosaurs used, it’s all reused and recycled endlessly.”

You can listen below for the full conversation between Aaron Keck and Jennifer Hunter below, and visit the Wonderful Water page here for more interviews and stories about the work OWASA does. 

 

Chapel Hill and Carrboro residents use roughly 7 million gallons of water a day, and “Wonderful Water” is a monthly conversation sponsored by the Orange Water and Sewer Authority highlighting its work to keep our community growing and water flowing.

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