Charlotte Water is embarking on a multi-year, multi-phase program to implement a diversified, sustainable biosolids treatment strategy that aligns with CLTWater's capital investment and operating costs capabilities. A key component of this program is to regionalize solids processing at McAlpine Creek Wastewater Management Facility (WWMF), which will include treatment of Sugar Creek, Irwin Creek and future Stowe Regional plant solids.
This program will improve the biosolids quality including enhanced pathogen and odor reduction for land application and other beneficial uses, achieving Charlotte Water goals for environmental stewardship and long-term sustainability, and ultimately diversifying options for biosolids users.
The new treatment process that will be implemented, called thermal hydrolysis, is a more energy sustainable process with a lower total carbon footprint, resulting in lower life-cycle cost for Charlotte Water and the community.
Centralizing solids processing at the McAlpine Creek WWMF will maximize opportunities for energy production and Class A technology utilization, as well as other resource recovery including nutrient harvesting, a process in which a portion of the nutrients (primarily phosphorus) are extracted from the solids and recovered as a fertilizer product. Class A biosolids can be safely used on lawns and gardens as well as agricultural lands.
Currently, CLTWater produces biosolids as a Class B product, meaning it can be used safely on agricultural land through our partnership with local farmers. Charlotte Water will continue to offer its high-quality Class B biosolids for land application users.