CEE Students Organize Field Trip to Innovative Wastewater Treatment Installation

CEE Ph.D. student Hannah Safford, along with Senior Erica Koopman-Glass, organized a trip to a farm in Yuba City.

The purpose of the trip was to tour was to an innovative wastewater treatment installation that uses earthworms and microorganisms to treat wastewater, using large worm-treatment basins to treat flow from farms, vineyards and industry to remove organic material prior to discharge.

“[The installation] replaces conventional energy-intensive reactors with a big concrete basin full of worms that break down organic matter and other contaminants by eating them,” Safford said.