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This article was published in the August, 2004 issue of WE&T Technology Magazine.
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Vacuum Sewers Help Clean Up Michigan Lakes

Rapid population growth in an unincorporated area created an environmental nightmare in rural Washtenaw County, Michigan, in the early 1990s. The septic tanks of hundreds of homes were leaking sewage into the groundwater at an alarming rate. Some of the sewage was even finding its way into the area's lakes.

Obviously, this created enormous concern in an area known for fishing and natural beauty. Local authorities began addressing the problem in mid-90s with the creation of the Multi-Lakes Water and Sewer Authority.

In 2002 the Water and Sewer Authority initiated the design of a collection system to serve the Patterson Lake area. Much of the terrain there is flat and has a high water table. Digging deep trenches to install a gravity system would be extremely costly and disruptive. So, at the advice of their engineering firm, Water and Sewer officials took a trip to Rochester, Indiana, to check out a vacuum sewer company called AIRVAC.

“I was so impressed with the simplicity of the system,” said Maryann Noah, chairperson of the Multi-Lakes Water and Sewer Authority. “Once I saw the AIRVAC system in operation, I was sold.”

AIRVAC's closed sewer system has eliminated the sewage that was polluting the local groundwater around Patterson Lake. Also, because vacuum sewer lines can be buried in trenches 4-6 feet in depth, the system was relatively easy and fast to install.

This article appeared in the August, 2004 issue of WE&T Technology Magazine. If you would like to read the entire story as it appeared in the magazine, you can download a pdf, or you may request hard copies.

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