Living machine

Living Machine is a trademark and brand name for a patented form of ecological sewage treatment designed to mimic the cleansing functions of wetlands. Similar to Solar Aquatics Systems, the latest generation of the technology is based on fixed-film ecology and the ecological processes of a natural tidal wetland, one of nature’s most productive ecosystems. The diversity of the ecosystem produced with this approach allows operational advantages over earlier generations of Living Machines and over conventional waste water treatment technologies.A contained microsystem can be very successful in recycling nutrients, organic matter, and water. Depending on the toxicity and makeup of the influent, living machines can treat water to tertiary treatment standards and even reach potable standards for most or all metrics. This excellent organic recycling is possible if the biosolids are not heavily contaminated with persistent pollutants (such as aluminum, which retards biotic growth). Mixed domestic/industrial municipal influent is more polluted, so a living machine may not always be able to treat every contaminant to levels that would not stress the ecosystem that receives the effluent. In this case, more treatment is necessary, which can be achieved by drainage into constructed wetlands which provide a different type of ecosystem that provides a fresh lineup of ecological players and services that can further process pollutants. Living Machine is a trademark and brand name for a patented form of ecological sewage treatment designed to mimic the cleansing functions of wetlands. Similar to Solar Aquatics Systems, the latest generation of the technology is based on fixed-film ecology and the ecological processes of a natural tidal wetland, one of nature’s most productive ecosystems. The diversity of the ecosystem produced with this approach allows operational advantages over earlier generations of Living Machines and over conventional waste water treatment technologies. The Living Machine system was commercialized and is marketed by Living Machine Systems, L3C, a social benefit corporation based in Charlottesville, Va. The trademark Living Machine is owned by Dharma Group, LC, the parent company of Worrell Water Technologies. The Living Machine is an intensive bioremediation system that can also produce beneficial byproducts, such as reuse-quality water, ornamental plants and plant products—for building material, energy biomass, animal feed. Aquatic and wetland plants, bacteria, algae, protozoa, plankton, snails and other organisms are used in the system to provide specific cleansing or trophic functions. The tidal process operates outdoors in tropical and temperate climates. In colder climates, the system of tanks, pipes and filters may be housed in a greenhouse to prevent freezing and raise the rate of biological activity. The initial development of the technology in the United States is generally credited to Dr. John Todd, an ecological designer, and evolved out of the bioshelter concept developed at the now-defunct New Alchemy Institute. The Living Machine system falls within the emerging discipline of ecological engineering, and many systems using earlier generations of the technology are built without being dubbed a Living Machine. The scale of Living Machine systems ranges from the individual building to community-scale public works. Some of the earliest Living Machines were used to treat domestic wastewater in small, ecologically-conscious villages, such as Findhorn Community in Scotland,. Some treated the mixed municipal wastewater for semi-urban areas, such as South Burlington, Vermont (this plant closed recently). The latest-generation Tidal Flow Wetland Living Machines are being used in major urban office buildings, military bases, housing developments, resorts and institutional campuses. Each system is designed to handle a certain volume of water per day, but the system is also tailored for the qualities of the specific influent. For example, if the influent contains high levels of heavy metals, ecological wastewater treatment systems must be designed to include the proper biota to accumulate the metals. During the “spring cleaning” season, there may be high levels of bleach in the water. This sudden concentration of a toxin is an example of a steep gradient. Species diversity is a design goal that promotes complexity and resiliency in an ecosystem. Functional redundancy (the presence of multiple species that provide the same function) is an important example of the need for biodiversity. Snails and fish filter sludge and act as diagnostics; when a toxic load enters, snails will rise above the water level on the wall of the tank. The above points are an incomplete synthesis of a paper by Todd and Josephson at the Wayback Machine (archived July 11, 2007). Björn Guterstam critiques conventional wastewater treatment for five different inadequacies that living machine systems address. This evaluation explains the basis of his five points of contention: