Clay Township's algae wastewater plant would be first of its kind in Michigan

A new wastewater treatment plant involving algae-based technology that's been proposed for the San Souci area of Clay Township would be the first of its kind in Michigan, according to state and local officials.

Clay Township announced this week it was getting a $2 million boost in the 2024 state budget to support the build sometime within the next year. Currently, Harsens Island properties rely on septic fields.

But despite the widespread support from some islanders and the San Souci businesses community, township officials are also bracing to answer plenty of questions about the new idea.

On Tuesday, a day after the governor signed the next state budget, local officials gathered in San Souci to talk about the algae plant.

A public town hall meeting has also been set for 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 17, at the Harsens Island Lions Hall. Officials said it will include engineers to review the project, location, estimated costs, and timeframe.

Clay Township Supervisor Artie Bryson said they’re working with Algaewheel, trademarked technology by the North Carolina-based OneWater Group.

According to the company, the algae tech is a nature-based solution designed to emit a net zero carbon emission in wastewater treatment, consuming up to 90% less energy than more traditional systems.

Images of the system show large greenhouse-like structures with rows of rotating cylindrical wheels where the algae grow with light, carbon dioxide, and nutrient exposure, allowing algal biofilms to target byproducts in wastewater sludge.

On Tuesday, Bryson joked, “People are going to think we’re growing pot.”

“It literally smells like an aquarium, and that was the worst smell,” he said Tuesday, recalling a trip to an Algaewheel plant in Naples, New York. “And it takes so little electricity to run this. We’re going to do it with solar panels. We’ll create like 90% of the power to run it. I think the only electricity we’ll really be using is we’ll have to have a pump. Because this is all going to be gravity fed, and then, you pump it up. One lift station.”

The supervisor and the township’s contracted engineer said that in addition to passing through algae, wastewater would also be hit with ultraviolet light.

“Then, it goes back into nature,” Bryson said.

Mark Santavy, of Project Control Engineering, said they looked at four sites where the plant structure could go.

Ultimately, they settled on land in a currently wooded area off Maple Street, which is just around the corner from the San Souci corridor, for a 35-by-90-foot greenhouse. Referring to access to the South Channel of the St. Clair River nearby, Santavy said, “It’ll come straight down and we’re going to discharge it right out here.”

The engineer said it’d also be roughly a 14-month build, while the state funds become available in October.

However, there will be other boxes the township needs to check first.

Bryson said they have to look at some wetland mitigation needs and pursue permitting through the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.

EGLE spokesman Jeff Johnston said permitting and operation of the plant would be based on existing rules.

Still, he said in an email, “There are additional steps for evaluating such new or innovative technologies in Michigan. This would include evaluating data and information from existing, similar installations to help ensure that the unit process will meet the needs of a project. All municipal wastewater treatment plants must be under the supervision of a properly certified operator in charge of the wastewater treatment plant.”

Bryson said they’d need to develop local rules to create a district and help dictate base fees property owners may need to pay into the new wastewater system. He wants it to be voluntary.

“Instead of, ‘You must hook up,’” he said, it’d be, “‘You may hook up.’”

Local health departments have authority over individual and smaller community septic systems.

Currently, the rest of Clay Township funnels wastewater through a treatment plant it shares with Ira Township and the city of Algonac. Its total capacity, Bryson said, is about 2.7 million gallons a day.

“This plant will go up to 25,000 gallons a day, and we estimate we would be able to hook up the town of San Souci and about 200 homes, and that would handle peak hours or peak seasons,” Bryson said in an interview Monday. “One reason we like the algae wheel plant is you’re not dependent on high flows. In other words, this plant works if there’s high flows or low flows like we would expect in the wintertime.”

Despite the newness associated with Clay’s plans, other plant-related technology — primarily that produced by Montana-based CLEARAS — has been talked about in nearby Ira.

St. Clair County Commissioner Dave Vandenbossche, whose downriver district includes both communities, has referenced the latter algae tech during board meetings this year.

“I’m not a green person, but I love the idea of this system. Because it takes some of the good ideas that the very structured environmentalists have and it blends it with some real-life uses,” he said.

It may also be far less expensive than other alternatives to getting Harsens Island off septic — something a host of officials and business owners agreed was critical to San Souci's growth.

“We’re not recreating the wheel here,” Vandenbossche added in an interview. “Trying to force sewage under the North Channel to the existing plant, that didn’t make sense — financially, and then, environmentally. Instead of building a big pump station and just pumping it over to a plant that was already having problems keeping up, by putting something (in San Souci), it’s going to reduce the cost, and if they can bring in some revenue to offset these (starting) costs, it’s a win-win.”

Initially, Bryson said the township asked the state for $3.5 million. State Sen. Kevin Hertel, D-St. Clair Shores, who helped secure the $2 million, too, referenced a total need ranging in cost up to $4 million.

But Bryson said the state line item gets them started, building the plant, looping in San Souci, and leaving them to hunt for money for any future expansion.

“The great part about this is it’s modular,” Hertel said of the Algaewheel setup. “You can add on over time with more demand or as other folks want to tie into it. You have that ability. Our focus was really that we start here with the downtown area, help to revitalize this with the old bar being restored and other businesses trying to make it.”

For more information, contact Clay Township at (810) 794-9303. For more on the technology, visit www.AlgaeWheel.com.

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or [email protected].