The air and plants provide an environment that hosts a variety of organisms that eat the waste in the wastewater. A clarifier follows the open aerobic reactors to settle out the solids. These beds operate aerobically and provide final polishing, nitrification, and suspended solids digestion. With its aesthetic beauty and lack of offensive odor, this system is also compatible with a residential environment. Elementary, middle and high school science students tour the facility for first hand lessons on ecology, engineering and environmental stewardship.
University students get more involved in the intricacies of each ecosystem, and research.
As we move into the 21st century we all need to be developing ways to manage waste using ecological systems.