MMSD and Air Quality

An actor involved in air quality issues within Milwaukee is the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD).  The MMSD is headquartered on Seeboth Street, just across the Menomonee River, east of the Harley Davidson Museum. It has facilities at Jones Island, as a water reclamation facility, a South Shore water reclamation facility, and the flushing station that is located at the Colectivo coffee on Lincoln Memorial Drive. It is considered a regional government agency, which provides flood management and reclamation services to the greater Milwaukee area. Although this organizations main purpose is to protect the waters of lake Michigan, it is involved in innovative projects that help reduce air pollution in the greater Milwaukee area, which i will discuss later on in greater depth. 

The MMSD was established in 1921, after a long history of sewage issues within the city. Check out this link to learn more about Milwaukee’s history dealing with lake Michigan and the development of adaptive methods to sewage issues in Milwaukee, http://www.mmsd.com/about/history. 

With industrialization of a developing city and population growth, the sewage systems were a major issue which required a good deal of effort to stop the dumping of raw sewage into lake Michigan. with population growth came the expansion of Jones Island, the major water treatment plant in Milwaukee at the time, and still to this day. Check out the photo below, showing Jones Island as a lovely little fishing village before it became a waste water treatment facility.   

Picturesque fishing village before Jones Island as we know today 

But enough with sewage, this post is about air quality, and MMSD’s role in it. MMSD is taking landfill gas and transforming it into power to fuel the water reclamation facility at Jones Island, recycling at its finest, or dirtiest? The title on the site « Garbage Fueling Clean Water in Milwaukee » surely would grab anyones attention, and to some, would be considered radical and innovative. 

Through this initiative, MMSD is supporting renewable energy and reducing carbon emissions, reducing operating and maintenance costs for the facility, and often a very important factor, bringing cheaper water services to customers in the greater Milwaukee area. 

As the Executive Director, Kevin Shafer says, “This project created jobs, is good for our customer’s wallets, and for the environment, reducing air  pollution from traditional energy sources.” On the website (listed at the end of the post), it was stated that the majority of energy needed during dry weather could be supplied by landfill energy. In opposition, wet weather requires addition sources (as water reclamation is more intensive when it rains or snows), but still the landfill energy plays a crucial role in energy sources. 

Heres a picture of a landfill flare;
 the gas has to go somewhere if not used! 

You might ask where this landfill gas is coming from? 19 miles away! All the way in Muskego at the Emerald Park Landfill, some nice ladies and gents supply MMSD with their excess landfill gas. The MMSD makes a point on the website to state that the pipeline is low pressure, about the same or a little less pressure of what is required for a bicycle tire (100 PSI, pounds per inch). Maybe they anticipated some uproar piping gas 19 miles into the city?  If thats not the case, they just wanted to be extra specific of how they acquire their gas. 

Back at the Island, MMSD invested in three new turbines accommodating the landfill gas transforming them into usable electricity. These new turbines replaced two dirty, natural gas during  turbines which were quiet outdated. Out with this old, in with the new! 

The new turbines at Jones Island 

So, although the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District is mostly concerned with water quality, it seems that theirs hearts extend to the air as well. By utilizing landfill gas to power Jones Island, they are reducing landfill gas wastefully being emitted into the atmosphere, reducing the need for carbon powered energy sources, and are saving some money at the same time. Plus, saving some money surely grabs customers attentions and allows them to support an environmentally friendlier initiative. 

Link for info on landfill gas used at MMSD: http://www.mmsd.com/sustainability/landfill-gas