The alpine terrain there is considered so fragile that you are not allowed to hike from the ski area to the adjoining state hp - you may only go back down
Read the article this morning. Thank you for posting it.
I am disturbed about snow-making machines using reclaimed sewage water. Am I over-reacting, or is it possible that sewage will leach back into the water table?
The article mentions that they are already using treated sewage water for golf courses. I don't know if this is good or bad.
Use of "Gray Water" for snowmaking is pretty common. I believe Killington has used this system. New Hampshire's DES 2010 Guidance recommends this practice for water onservation:
I work in drinking water but my environmental science education is in both. It sounds to me from reading the article that they are using tertiary treatment, which treats the water to near drinking water standards. Theres a huge difference between "grey water" and water that has been treated with tertiary methods. Waterville Valley has a plant I have visited that treats the water using tertiary methods before it is discharged for snowmaking and into the Mad River. An engineer giving us the tour actually drank it to show us his confidence in how clean it was. ...I took his word for it.
Sugarloaf uses a "Snowfluent" treatment system for the the areas wastewater. They dont pump it back upon the slopes, they let it pile up all winter and then land apply it.
