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Gru collects the waste in huge vats where most of the fluids are extracted. The fluids are
processed until the worst of the bacteria are removed, and the water is considered safe to drink. The majority of it is then put directly into the aquifer. Viruses, heavy metals, pesticides and chemicals are not removed.
GRU has two waste water treatment plants: Kanapaha and Main Street. The Kanapaha plant has a permit to inject treated liquid into the aquifer. They send the residue - sewer sludge - to be spread on farmland. Main Street does not have a permit to inject fluids, so they send all of it down the Alachua Sink and into the aquifer. The Gainesville Sun published a series of articles about the city creeks. Trucks loaded with sewer sludge leave the Main Street plant every day to apply to farmland.
Question:
If the water is really safe to drink, why is it injected or used as irrigation for golf courses? Could it be out-of-sight, out-of-mind?
After most of the fluids have been extracted, the wet solids are loaded on trucks. The trucks deliver the sewer sludge and spray it on farmland as free fertilizer. It is difficult to obtain much information from GRU.(Because of the danger of terrorist attacks, they give even less information than before.) They will assure the questioner that it is all safe because they follow the rules set by EPA. But a growing chorus of voices all over the world offer proof that the EPA standards are not protecting the water. One local voice is that of Mike Carter. He has taken many canoe trips in the area and reports from personal observations. Individuals at GRU seem secretive. Perhaps they fear that the public would be repulsed by the thought of drinking what was in the sewer lines only a short time before it is declared suitable for making iced tea or eating food grown on or close to farmland sprayed with sewer sludge. There is no intention here to suggest GRU is not following the commonly accepted practices. However, there is a real question about the standards set by EPA. |