Water Purification

US waste systems, nationally, are stretched beyond their ability. Hence, when the Rodale institute was looking to replace its outdated sewage facility, the plan to simply connect to public utilities did not seem to them as the best answer. According to the Rodale Institute, "there is continual pressure to build new residential, commercial, and industrial facilities on prime agricultural lands simply because water and wastewater systems are easier to install. These productive lands are often selected solely on the soil’s ability to percolate water without regard for the food-growing potential being lost."

Rather than exacerbate this problem with their own expansion, the Rodale institute decided to explore unique ways to bring water into their facility and to handle it once it had been used. This report tries to capture the process that lead them to choose a constructed wetlands system and the design features that make it possible. It also outlines the reasons the technology works, the science that proves its functionality, and the considerations to adopt this technology as a retrofit to an existing on-lot system or new construction.