Ecovillage Findhorn: Biological Waste Water Treatment

To improve the cycle of water use for the settlement, we have developed a phased plan for responsible water management. In Phase I we built our own waste water treatment facility, completed in 1995, called the Living Machine®. A technology developed by Dr John Todd, it uses natural non-chemical biological systems to clean our sewage and creates a mini-ecosystem within a greenhouse environment, mimicking nature's own water cleaning system. In Phase II we will be constructing a water distribution system to recycle the water from the Living Machine on-site, reducing our use of mains water.

On the 13th of October 1995 Jonathan Porritt opened Europe's first Living Machine ® at the Findhorn Foundation. This ecologically engineered sewage treatment plant is designed to treat sewage from the population of up to 300 people living at the Findhorn Foundation and is providing a research and educational facility to promote this technology throughout Europe

Living Machines ® treat wastewater based on a 'whole systems' approach to biological technology. They utilise a set of sequenced, complete ecologies. Treatment can be taken to advanced standards in cost effective projects which are reliable, robust and aesthetically pleasing. The approach represents a shift from high energy, chemically intensive treatment, to the adoption of the principles of ecological engineering.

Diverse communities of bacteria, algae, micro-organisms, numerous species of plants and trees, snails, fish and other living creatures interact as whole ecologies in tanks and bio-filters. Depending on the climate, Living Machines ® can be located outdoors, in protective greenhouses, or under light shelter

In the Living Machine ® system, anaerobically treated sewage arrives in a greenhouse containing a series of tanks. These contain species which break down the sewage naturally as it moves through the tanks. In many systems, fish and plants are being produced, which can then be sold. Living Machines mirror processes that occur in the natural world, but do so more intensively. At the end of the series of tanks, the resulting water is pure enough to discharge directly into the sea or to be recycled. The technology is not only capable of meeting tough new sewage outflow standards, but uses no chemicals, and has a relatively inexpensive capital cost attached.

Current industrial projects in North America involve the re-use of the treated wastewater for non-drinking purposes within production facilities. These uses include washing, irrigation, etc.

The research behind this technology has been carried out by Dr. John Todd, an eminent Canadian biologist, through the non-profit research organisation - Ocean Arks International of Falmouth, Massachusetts.

Living Technologies is the firm which designed and built the Findhorn Living Machine ® and others which are listed on the following, more technical, page.

If you are interested in building a natural waste water treatment system visit Living Technologies Ltd

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