Paddock Lake wins award from Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for chloride reduction efforts | Local News

“The village was successful in reducing the quantity of road salt used in the 2020-21 season by 24%, and through efforts from our residents and business owners the sanitary sewer plant saw a 17% reduction in chloride from softeners reaching the sewer treatment plant,” stated Village Administrator Tim Popanda. “The 17% reduction equates to 91,000 pounds of chloride not reaching the treatment plant and the waters of the state.”

DNR licensing agent Nick Lent stated the Paddock Lake wastewater remedy facility is usually used as a mannequin, which it was additional acknowledged as a “Facility of the Year.” A delegation from Costa Rica toured the ability in 2019.

“The village’s current chloride source reduction plan is used by the DNR as a good example for other sewer utilities across the state,” Lent stated. “The plan has also been shared with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and US EPA for the same reason.”

Popanda stated the Village Board has made a dedication to cut back the quantity of chloride that enters the atmosphere.

The Paddock Lake Sewer Utility gives remedy for wastewater collected from 1,476 residential, business and public customers. Of these, 325 are served by each sanitary sewer and municipal water and 1,151 customers have personal water wells.

“This scenario presents a challenge for the utility’s control of chlorides entering the district’s collection system,” Popanda stated.

In addition to enhancing its facility, the village created a chloride reduction plan and has labored to coach customers concerning the adverse outcomes of overuse of chloride and water softeners.

For instance, the village met with Westosha-Central High School to assist them develop a snow and ice plan and with native enterprise house owners to offer training on lot upkeep.

“The adopted chloride reduction plan and strategy, developed in 2019-20, utilized incentives, partnerships and public education to encourage reduction of chloride entering the district’s sanitary sewer collection system and the water of the state of Wisconsin,” Popanda stated.

In 2022, the village plans to undertake an area ordinance requiring all new softeners to be Demand Initiated Regeneration sort softeners and an ordinance proscribing the softening of exterior course of and irrigation water.

It can even work with house owners of 283 properties in a zone identified to have extraordinarily laborious water to optimize or tune-up their current softeners and supply incentives to interchange outdated, inefficient softeners.

“Based on sampling data, these two zones contribute as much as 22%, or 79,000 pounds, of chloride to the system annually,” Popanda stated, including the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed the optimization portion of the reduction plan. “In 2021, the district implemented what it could, considering the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions for in-person contacts.”