From the Mount Horeb Wastewater Utility
The Village of Mount Horeb is continuing its effort to reduce the amount of chloride coming into the Wastewater Treatment Facility. There is no easy or affordable way to remove chlorides from wastewater; therefore, reducing them at the source is by far the best way. The WDNR has imposed a limit to the chloride level in our facility’s effluent discharge to the Sugar River. The best way to meet this limit is with your help.
Chlorides discharged from water softeners end up at the Wastewater Treatment Facility, and the facility can do very little to treat the chlorides without the overwhelming expense of additional processes such as reverse osmosis. The chlorides are discharged with our facility’s clean effluent into the West Branch of the Sugar River with the potential of affecting aquatic life and eventually drinking water.
- We understand the need for softened water, however the more responsibly softeners are operated, the less chlorides we will see at the Facility.
- Homeowners are asked to review their softener settings to match the hardness of Mount Horeb’s water at 21 grains.
- More efficient softeners that regenerate on-demand have flowmeters and regenerate only after the proper amount of water is used. Older or cheaper softeners run on a timer and will regenerate if it is needed or not, wasting salt, water, and money. An on-demand softener will run less, reduce chlorides and save the owner money as well as help out the utility and the environment.
- The Village of Mt. Horeb recently mandated on-demand water softeners for new construction and replacement softeners.
Commercial buildings also need to help manage the use of salt. We also ask that you do not over-apply salt when you are de-icing your driveway and sidewalk to avoid adding more chlorides into the environment.
With your continued help on this issue, we should be able to reduce the amount of chloride going to the wastewater facility and minimize chloride’s effect on the environment.
Please contact me if you have any questions.
John Klein
Wastewater Superintendent
608 437-3101