Fuss & O’Neill led the design, permitting, and construction oversight for the cutting-edge Greenwood Lake Decentralized Wastewater Demonstration Project, which assessed methods for phosphorus removal.

The project used two sites adjacent to the lake to compare different methods for capturing and reducing phosphorus discharges from on-site septic systems, in an effort to mitigate lake eutrophication.

The first approach involved pressure dosing a filter consisting of recycled water softener media to increase phosphorus sorption from treated effluent. The second method used an innovative urine diversion flush toilet for source separation, followed by discharge to a holding tank that captured of up to 80% of the nitrogen and 50% of the phosphorus in human waste, while isolating less than 5% of the total waste stream.

Comparison of the two systems was integral to helping find low-energy wastewater solutions that improve water quality and can be implemented on a broader scale in the community.