System Would Use Effluent to Produce Power

Government and industry officials are creating an innovative sewage system in Charles County that is believed to be the first in the nation that would use water flushed down the toilet to operate power plants.

Called a closed-loop system, the plan is to pump the county's sewage to treatment stations and then route the treated sewage, known as effluent, to area power plants. Instead of groundwater, the plants would use the effluent for their cooling towers and other operations.

The new system has not entered the permitting process, and the county government is still negotiating with power plant companies over details such as building the extensive pipe network and financing the project. But government and industry officials involved in the discussions described the plan as nearly finalized.

The system's design is receiving high marks from environmentalists and wastewater experts, who called it innovative and said its benefits would be twofold. The area's power plants would no longer draw groundwater, helping preserve a key natural resource in fast-growing Southern Maryland. In addition, the county would stop flushing its treated sewage into the Potomac River, an important step in cleaning the Chesapeake Bay.
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