The drinking water we receive from our local drinking water utilities or individual wells comes from ground water, streams, rivers, springs or lakes in a watershed. Although most water requires some treatment before use, protecting this source water is an important part of providing safe drinking water to the public.   Benjamin Franklin said:  “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” and this is the premise for creating a sound Source Water Protection Plan.All treatment processes produce a waste by-product, or residual, that the utility must dispose of in a safe and acceptable way.  Prior to the 1980s, the most widely practiced method for handling these residuals was direct discharge, without treatment, to a stream or lagoon.  Few sludge management options were available to water treatment facilities. 

Since 1980, the systematic elimination of surface water discharges, stricter landfill regulations, rising landfill tipping fees, and restrictions on sewer discharge have forced water utilities to develop residual disposal alternatives.  One of the beneficial uses of water treatment plant waste is the application of water treatment residuals as a soil or an agricultural soil additive.  In fact, residual use as a soil additive has become the single largest method of residual disposal.

The GJWA produces sludge by-products at the Authority’s two (2) water treatment plants.  With the addition of the two drying beds built at the Riverside Treatment Plant, the GJWA will now take advantage of this alternative.  By blending the GJWA sludge with topsoil, the Authority creates a co-product which is acceptable to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection as a soil additive whish is good for the environment and cost effective for our customers. 

Warmest Regards,

RDM-Johnstown, LLC