Baylor Wastewater Research Program

The Baylor Wastewater Research Program (BWRP) in collaboration with Dr. Bruce Lesikar of Texas A&M and the Agriculture Extension Service is conducting a research funded by the Texas On-Site Wastewater Treatment Research Council (TOWTRC).  Specifically, we are studying a submerged-bed constructed wetland using the American National Standards Institute/National Sanitation Foundation Standard 40 criteria. The interest of the TOWTRC and increased interest in alternative treatment processes by manufacturers and homeowners makes this a timely and important project.  A rigorously quantitative assessment using a known evaluation procedure (Standard 40) will allow direct comparisons with other on-site treatment processes, improve our general knowledge of treatment wetlands and help to evaluate the effectiveness of constructed wetlands as an on-site treatment alternative.  It is the expressed purpose of this project to see how well the wetland performs using the NSF Standard 40 criteria and at the same time to evaluate the Standard 40 procedure for testing treatment wetlands.   

The research is being conducted at the BWRP site just south of Waco, Texas at the Waco Metropolitan Area Regional Sewerage System (WMARSS) treatment plant.  This location is ideally suited for this particular project for the following reasons.

1)      It is centrally located with respect to temperature and precipitation gradients. 

2)      It is immediately adjacent to the NSF certification site at the WMARSS treatment plant.

3)      It is within a reasonably accessible distance for research team members, TOWTRC members, TCEQ employees, and lab facilities.   

Raw wastewater from the WMARSS plant is pumped into a two chambered 1,500 gallon septic tank and flows by gravity into the 10’ x 50’ x 12” treatment wetland (note: water level will be maintained at 9”, eliminating wastewater exposure to the atmosphere) then returned to the WMARSS plant.  Both septic tank and wetland effluent samples are collected and analyzed, according to NSF Standard 40 criteria, for carbonaceous 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (CBOD₅), total suspended solids (TSS), pH, color, odor, oily film and foam.  In addition, samples will be analyzed for dissolved oxygen (DO), temperature, total nitrogen, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, soluble reactive phosphate, total phosphorus, and electrical conductance (Ec).  Rainfall and temperature data will also be collected. 

Results will be subjected to statistical analysis –treatment effectiveness in correlation to rainfall, temperature and concentration of incoming wastewater.   

Research Team

This project is under the leadership of Dr. Joe C. Yelderman Jr., in collaboration with Dr. Bruce Lesikar of The Texas A&M Extension Service (TAES) and Dr. Robert Doyle of Baylor University.  Dr. Yelderman is director of the BWRP and serves as principal investigator.  Dr. Lesikar is an internationally known expert in on-site wastewater treatment and designed the treatment wetland.  Dr. Doyle is a certified wetland specialist and chair of the Biology Department at Baylor University. He will be in charge of the vegetation for the system and all three professors will be instrumental in the evaluation process.  Equally important to the project is the expertise and experience of Courtney O’Neill of the TAES who has experience and expertise in on-site wetlands.  She will help monitor the progress and the QA/QC of the study.  In addition, Brian Scheffe, who has experience with treatment wetlands helped with the construction and sampling strategy.  Pablo Davila is completing his Masters Thesis in Environmental studies at Baylor by analyzing the data from the first 6 months.