Investigations — Pollution Abatement
Measures Beyond Primary Treatment
A. J. PALLADINO, Registered Professional Engineer
Kalamazoo, Michigan
INTRODUCTION
Primary treatment or equivalent facilities were installed by all paper
mills on the Kalamazoo River in and downstream of Kalamazoo during the
period 1953-1955. During the same interval a chemical coagulation plant
was installed for treating the sewage of the city of Kalamazoo, and modified
secondary treatment plants were constructed to handle the sewage of the
smaller downstream communities of Parchment, Plainwell, and Otsego. A
primary sewage treatment plant had previously been in operation at Allegan,
35 river miles below Kalamazoo, the furthest downstream community on the
critical stretch of the river.
Although the affected river stretch had been considerably shortened,
river surveys conducted subsequent to the installation of these facilities have
indicated that critical stream conditions still persisted in a 10-15-mile stretch
between Kalamazoo and Otsego during the low flow-high temperature periods.
A cooperative stream survey in August 1956 by the Michigan Water Resources Commission, participated in by personnel of Kalamazoo Paper Mills,
the city of Kalamazoo, and National Council for Stream Improvement formed
the basis for a W.R.C. report, "Self-PurificationCapacities of the Kalamazoo River." This report pointed out the need for considerable additional BOD
reductions beyond that accomplished in the existing treatment installations in
order to insure satisfactory stream conditions during drought periods. These
findings were presented at a meeting of the W.R.C. with paper mill representation in May 1958, in which an agreement was reached to allow a reasonable period of time to attack the problem by cooperative action. Accordingly,
the Kalamazoo River Improvement Company, a nonprofit organization of Kalamazoo area deinking mills, was reactivated. Over the past ten years, this
group has supported research and development work on the handling and treatment of de-inking "wastes. The writer was retained to coordinate this group's
waste water investigations.
Another cooperating group, the Kalamazoo Valley Waste Water Study
Committee, consisting of mills other than the de-inking mills, was also
formed. The two groups participated jointly in river survey and stream re-
aeration projects but operated separately in regard to waste water studies,
which were unique within each group.
INVESTIGATIONS
The apparent solution to persistent unsatisfactory stream conditions sub-
quent to the installation of primary treatment facilities is secondary treatment. But secondary treatment patently involves considerable capital and
operating costs. The Kalamazoo River Improvement Co., therefore, determined to investigate (along with conventional secondary treatment techniques)
alternate approaches which appeared to offer more economical means of solving the problem.   Two investigations were conducted simultaneously:
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