• Installed in 2002
• 5 acres planted
• Leachate collected from sludge lagoon is applied to hybrid poplars via drip irrigation
• No liner beneath trees
• Over 100 feet to the water table
• Regulatory approval gained within a week of submission

Sand Creek Consultants designed and deployed a full-scale poplar system for the sole purpose of treating leachate from a paper mill sludge compost facility.

Drip irrigation is used to apply the leachate to the trees. The system has no liner, and has been fully functional since 2004.

Prior to the phytoremediation system, annual costs for leachate treatment were $19,000. Total cost for installation of the phytoremediation system was $23,000. Thus, the payback period for the tree system was little more than a year.

Client

Oneida County Solid Waste

Location

Oneida County, Wisconsin