MARYD - In the new year, residents can look forward to a cleaner stream.
Bill Reichert, president of Schuylkill Headwaters Association, said Friday that the acid mine drainage treatment system in the village will be completed next year. It has been at least seven years in the making and construction finally started last month.
"The treatment system will treat an abandoned mine discharge named the MaryD Borehole," Reichert said. "This borehole is located within a couple feet of Walnut Street, the road leading from Valley Street to MaryD."
A $664,500 state grant is paying for the project. Schuylkill Headwaters Association received the EPA 319 Clean Water Fund grant administered through the state Department of Environmental Protection under the Growing Greener program to build the system. Rettew Associates did the design and engineering work, while Miller Brothers Construction is doing the actual construction of the project.
Once completed, Schuylkill Headwaters along with the Schuylkill Conservation District will handle the maintenance of the system.
Reichert said that the borehole was drilled before the Clean Water Act of 1977 to relieve water in the Mary D Minepool.
The act was established to eliminate the release of high amounts of toxic substances into water.
"It flows at an average rate of 500 gallons per minute with relatively low pH water," Reichert said. "The iron content of the water averages 10 milligrams per liter. The water travels approximately 1,500 feet before dumping into the Schuylkill River."
Compared to other treatment systems in the area, Reichert said most have an average flow of about 1,200 gallons per minute so this one has a smaller footprint, but it's what they had to work with.
With the system designed to last 25 years and treat an average of 750,000 gallons per day, the goal is to reduce iron loading to the Schuylkill River.
"The pH values fluctuate between 5.5 and 6.5 with neutral being 7.0," he said. "We would hope by putting the water through the system, the values would remain steady between 6.5 and 7.0. Iron content also fluctuates between 3 and 10 parts per million with a goal to reduce the iron levels to 1 (part per million) or less."
The way the system works is the water is run through limestone to remove the iron, then since some of the iron can precipitate out, the water is run through a flushing pond to capture any remaining iron or sediment.
Reichert said this is a common practice for most treatment systems.
The treatment system is located on the former Little League baseball field along Valley Street.
"Before constructing a treatment system on this site, a suitable recreation complex needed to be built to replace it," Reichert said. "That was accomplished using private foundation funding at a location just north of the village of MaryD along the north side of Walnut Street."
The site cost $432,000.
Meanwhile, Blaschak Coal Co. donated 10 acres to the MaryD Fire Company for the new recreation site, the fire company agreeing to a lease with Schuylkill Township for a recreation complex and the township entering into agreements with baseball and soccer groups to allow for the use and maintenance of the facility.
When that was completed, Schuylkill Headwaters could then start the process by applying for grant funding and being permitting to build a treatment system at the old baseball field location.
The new recreation complex includes a baseball field, soccer field, walking path and a small area for ice skating during the winter. Reichert said it was completed in 2007 or 2008.
"The river is getting better from all the work we've been doing," Reichert said. "Each one of these (treatment systems) just makes it a little more tidy."