Sewage Plant Tries to be Green

The Moon Township Municipal Authority will start reusing waste gas to power its operation. Rather than letting methane gas produced by the sewage treatment process burn off in a flare the Authority will capture the gas, clean it, and pump it into three 30-kilowatt microturbines. The 3-4 foot high, 18-inch square, boxes are expected to generate 832,200 kilowatt-hours per year saving the Authority about $66-thousand annually. That is about 25% of their yearly electricity bill. The state is kicking in $425-thousand dollars for the $580-thousand project. Consulting engineer Terry Soster says normally a project like this would have a 9-year payback, which may have prevented the Authority from make the purchase. Despite the long normally payback period, Soster says he hopes to use this as a model project to help sell the idea to other waste treatment facilities. He says the new turbines should be up and running this time next year.