ARTICLE
BARTOW, Fla. (May 2, 2023) – Polk County residents will soon see a tax savings of $2.5 million annually thanks to cutting edge technology at the county’s North Central Landfill. The Board approved an $11.3 million contract with Thalle Construction for the wetlands treatment construction project. Leachate is formed when rainwater filters through garbage at a landfill. When the rainwater comes into contact with garbage, it leaches, or draws out, chemicals. In particular, it leaches out a high concentration of ammonia, which is harmful to the environment. Polk County currently sends leachate to a wastewater treatment plant, at a cost of about $2.5 million per year. In an effort to save taxpayers money and find an in-house, long-term solution, the county collaborated with the University of Florida’s Sustainable Materials Management Research Laboratory to develop a plan to treat leachate. “We wanted to come up with an environmentally-friendly way to treat leachate,” said Susan Pelz, interim director of Waste and Recycling. “The University of Florida has done a wonderful job. They have studied our leachate issue and developed a system that uses natural materials and processes. We’re excited for Thalle Construction to begin work. This project will quickly pay for itself and benefit Polk County residents.” The wetlands that Thalle Construction will develop at the North Central Landfill will mimic a natural wetland, in that it will break down harmful chemicals in a natural way. Leachate will be placed in an engineered wetland, and pollutants will be removed as they would in a natural wetland, by interacting with specifically placed plants, soils and microorganisms. “This is largely a self-sustaining system that will take the harmful chemicals out of leachate in a natural way,” Pelz said. Construction will begin summer of 2023. It is expected to be completed by summer of 2024.
BARTOW, Fla. (May 2, 2023) – Polk County residents will soon see a tax savings of $2.5 million annually thanks to cutting edge technology at the county’s North Central Landfill. The Board approved an $11.3 million contract with Thalle Construction for the wetlands treatment construction project.
Leachate is formed when rainwater filters through garbage at a landfill. When the rainwater comes into contact with garbage, it leaches, or draws out, chemicals. In particular, it leaches out a high concentration of ammonia, which is harmful to the environment.
Polk County currently sends leachate to a wastewater treatment plant, at a cost of about $2.5 million per year. In an effort to save taxpayers money and find an in-house, long-term solution, the county collaborated with the University of Florida’s Sustainable Materials Management Research Laboratory to develop a plan to treat leachate.
“We wanted to come up with an environmentally-friendly way to treat leachate,” said Susan Pelz, interim director of Waste and Recycling. “The University of Florida has done a wonderful job. They have studied our leachate issue and developed a system that uses natural materials and processes. We’re excited for Thalle Construction to begin work. This project will quickly pay for itself and benefit Polk County residents.”
The wetlands that Thalle Construction will develop at the North Central Landfill will mimic a natural wetland, in that it will break down harmful chemicals in a natural way. Leachate will be placed in an engineered wetland, and pollutants will be removed as they would in a natural wetland, by interacting with specifically placed plants, soils and microorganisms.
“This is largely a self-sustaining system that will take the harmful chemicals out of leachate in a natural way,” Pelz said.
Construction will begin summer of 2023. It is expected to be completed by summer of 2024.