7960641076?profile=originalShade sails such as this one at Oceanfront Park would be used to collect rain for irrigation

under a plan to make the park more environmentally friendly.

Willie Howard/The Coastal Star

7960641093?profile=originalA site plan shows the new wastewater treatment plant (bottom left) expected to be completed

by the end of this year. Some rooftop solar panels (blue) and rain-collecting shade canopies (yellow)

will be included in this year’s work.

Rendering provided

By Willie Howard

    A new wastewater treatment plant and other environmentally friendly upgrades are planned for Boynton Beach Oceanfront Park.
    Scheduled to be completed by the end of this year, the wastewater plant will replace a 32-year-old plant that treats effluent from the park’s bathrooms and kitchen.
    The new plant will treat the sewage to a higher advanced standard, meaning the treated water can be used for landscape irrigation at the park, located on North Ocean Boulevard just east of Ocean Ridge Town Hall.
    Rooftop solar panels — and possibly small wind turbines — for power generation and a water-collection system that uses shade canopies to capture rain and funnel it into a cistern are part of the conceptual plan for the park’s green makeover.
    Rainwater will be mixed with treated water from the wastewater plant to irrigate the park’s lawn and plants, Boynton Beach Utilities Director Colin Groff said.
    Power generated by the solar panels will be used to satisfy part of the power demands of the new wastewater treatment plant, Groff said.
    Only part of the power-generation and rain-gathering systems will be installed at the park this year because of budget constraints.
    The city received a $300,000 state grant and will contribute $150,000 in city funds to replace the wastewater treatment plant and begin other improvements at the park. The city could receive more grant money next year to complete the upgrades.
    The combination of treated water from the wastewater plant and captured rainwater should allow the city to minimize the use of potable water for landscape irrigation in the park.
    “This is a city park,” Groff said. “We want to make sure our impact is as little as possible.”
    The new treatment plant was needed because the old one is outdated and too large for the amount of wastewater it treats. The park’s restrooms and snack kitchen generate about 1,500 gallons of effluent daily.
    The new plant will treat the wastewater to an advanced standard — a higher level of treatment than the secondary treatment achieved by the existing plant, which discharges treated water into a drain field at the park.
    Florida’s advanced wastewater treatment standard requires that most of the nitrogen and phosphorus be removed. Advanced treatment also kills most bacteria and pathogens, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
    By comparison, secondary treatment removes solids and organic waste but does not include requirements for removing nitrogen, phosphorus and pathogens.
    Groff said the decision to replace the wastewater treatment plant at Oceanfront Park was not related to the tougher bacteria standards for beach water that took effect Jan. 1.
    But he said the new plant is less likely to fail and cause water quality problems on the beach than the existing plant, installed in 1984.

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