After installing a constructed wetlands to “polish” their wastewater before releasing it into a nearby stream, officials at the Toccoa manufacturing plant of Coats North America, the largest global supplier of sewing thread, knew their water was cleaner, but knew that additional research could be beneficial to other textile companies in Georgia.
With that in mind, Coats employees are working closely with two researchers in the Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors Department examining the benefits of wetlands on a wide variety of compounds.
“If it works, there are a number of benefits to using wetlands,” says George Baughman, senior research scientist. “Besides reducing any trace compounds that remain in the treated wastewater, wetlands are far less expensive to construct and operate than other wastewater treatment facilities. By working with Coats and learning how their wetlands works, we can provide information to textile manufacturers throughout Georgia and, ultimately, help other companies determine if wetlands are something they should install at their plants.”
Baughman and Warren Per-kins, Georgia Power Professor of Textile Sciences, have completed the first year of a three-year study of the Coats’ wetlands and have been able to determine how the wetlands remove trace amounts of chemicals, metals and dyes from the wastewater.
“Throughout the 1990s we’ve been searching for better ways to lessen the impact of the treated wastewater we release into East-anollee Creek,” says Mike Bell, environmental manager for Coats North America.
Prior to establishing the wetlands, Coats already had an extensive biological and chemical treatment system. Coats worked with their environmental consultant –ERM-Southeast –and decided to install a wetlands area to provide additional cleaning of their effluent before it was released into the creek.
“Our first step was to install a pilot wetlands area that was 3,300 square feet,” Bell explains. “That worked well, so we installed the full-size wetlands which consists of eight one-acre plots.”
The wetlands include a variety of plants, including giant bulrushes, cattails and various grasses. Wastewater from the textile plant goes through two separate treatments before it reaches the wetlands, which is able to handle between 1 million and 1.5 million gallons of water per day –roughly the equivalent of a daily 7 1/2-inch rainfall.
“This project provides two values,” says Ian Hardin, head of the Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors department. “We’re able to help an individual site further understand what’s happening to the compounds. Also, we’re able to offer some insight about what might happen if the plant changes its processes.”
With funding from the Consortium on Competitiveness in the Apparel, Textile and Carpet Industries, Baughman and Perkins have completed the first year of a three-year study of the wetlands and their results already are helping Coats.
While Coats conducts standard tests on its wastewater, the research Baughman and Perkins have conducted includes more specific tests that examine how the wetlands affect a wide variety of individual compounds in the water.
“In addition to the research they’ve conducted on the effect of the wetlands on our wastewater, George and Warren were able to invest the time necessary to understand the physics of the wetlands system –such as how long it takes the water to flow across the wetlands and whether the water flows across in a smooth sheet or in channels,” Bell says. “They’ve also made some interesting and useful insights based on their understanding of how Coats’ manufactures thread.”
Testing the waters: George Baughman and Warren Perkins gather samples.For their part, Perkins and Baughman have found the pilot wetland particularly useful in their research.
“Because the pilot wetland is a closed loop –that is the water that comes out of it is re-treated using Coats’ traditional methods –we can use it like an outdoor lab,” Perkins explains. “For example, we can add a particular dose of a dye and see what happens without worrying that it will flow into the creek.”
“One of the things that was interesting was when we started looking for the reasons behind discoloration of the wastewater, we found that most of the coloring wasn’t due to dyes. Instead, some of it may be that the wastewater picks up color from the naturally decaying plants that are a part of the wetlands. Also, we’re looking at whether other chemicals used in the manufacturing process might change colors or become colored as an effect of being exposed to sunlight.”
“There’s no question that this wetlands does what the company intended it to do,” Baughman says.
Bell agrees, noting that there’s also a side benefit.
“We now have quite a little wildlife habitat at the wetlands with egrets, great blue herons, ducks, turkey and deer,” he says.
There’s also the far-more practical benefit of ensuring that textile companies in Georgia remain economically viable.
“We’ve been making thread in Toccoa for 63 years,” Bell says. “We want to continue contributing to this community’s economic base. And, in keeping with our corporate values we also want to be good environmental neighbors. The research being provided by George and Warren is helping us accomplish those goals.”
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