Faro’s Water Treatment Plant
 Water Treatment Plant down by the Pelly River near our three (3) Water Supply wells. | All the water coming out of your tap goes though the Water Treatment Plant down by the Pelly River. Faro has three (3) Water Supply wells, which supply water to the plant. The plant then treats the water uses Ultra Violet Disinfection and with Chlorination to ensure clean drinking water to all residents. The two UV tubes provide constant disinfection to the well water entering the plant. By having two separate tubes, maintenance can occur on one tube without disrupting the Town’s water supply. While the UV will kill any bacteria up to that point (from the wells), the rest of the distribution system needs protection. For that reason, Chlorine is added to the system to ensure the distribution system (underground water mains) beyond that point is protected from bacteria. Meaning that Faro Residents have clean water coming right out of their taps at home. Additionally the plan has a backup generator which starts automatically during outages to power the Wells and Treatment Plant ensuring a constant supply of clean drinking water. | |
 Ultra Violet Disinfection Tubes |  Pipe transporting the Chlorine Solution to the distribution system | |
Faro’s Lagoon
Faro, like many small communities has a Lagoon to deal with our sewage. A lagoon is like a giant open air septic field. Almost everything that goes down our drains is eventually decomposed and released back into the ground. Our Lagoon has 4 Cells each at a different stage of decomposition. How does it works?Sewage from Town travels down hill to Cell 1, once the first stage of decomposition is complete, the sewage flows through a pipe into Cell 2, where the process is repeated. Eventually all that is left in Cell 4 is clean water, which will either evaporate or infiltrate into the ground. The Town of Faro does not regularly discharge into the river. Cells 1 & 2 are considered Primary Cells. Cell 3 is a Secondary Treatment Cell and Cell 4 would be considered a Polishing Pond. |  | |
SolidsYou may have heard the Operations Manager talk about sludge and desludging at the Lagoons. Sludge is solid sewage. If there is too much solid sewage it becomes a problem. There are two ways to solve this problem. One, remove the solid sludge and bring it to a holding cell to evaporate all the liquid. At this point what is left is essentially very good fertilizer. Two, add good bacteria to the Cells to help the decomposition along. This is what Faro did in 2022 and 2023. Bacteria called Actizyme is added at various points in our sewer system where it works it’s way into the Lagoon. This worked very well and saved the Town about $270,000, by avoiding having to hire someone from down south to mechanically remove the sludge. RememberEverything you put down your drain or toilet ends up in the Lagoon. That is why is it so important to think about what you flush. Wipes and menstrual products do not decompose adding to solid sludge which eventually will have to be mechanically removed from the Lagoon. | ||
Heavy cleaners and chemicals kill the good bacteria which promotes decomposition causing more sludge. Dumping oil and grease down the drain creates restriction and will eventually block the pipes that transport your sewage to the Lagoon. When the grease gets to the Lagoon, it is difficult to digest by the good bacteria and may settle to the bottom adding to the sludge which would require mechanical removal. Please think about what goes down your drain, because it will eventually end up in the Lagoon and the environment. |  | |
