Courtesy of D.C. Water

Courtesy of D.C. Water

Last week, D.C. Water inaugurated a new treatment plant that takes sewage and turns it into electricity. Or, less elegantly, it takes poop and turns it into power. But while Mayor Muriel Bowser, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, and other bigwigs were at the grand unveiling, this is the people’s poop and the utility wants the public to be able to see its work in action.

According to officials, the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant is the largest urban treatment plant in the world to convert sewage sludge into electricity—and the only one of its kind in North America to use this particular technology. The $470 million project will provide about one-third of the Blue Plains plant‘s hefty energy needs.

“This project embodies a shift from treating used water as waste to leveraging it as a resource,” said DC Water CEO and general manager George S. Hawkins.

Continuing their reign as one of the most consistently informative and funny local government agencies on social media, D.C. Water has fully embraced the nature of the plant’s work. They are offering a “number 2 tour” at the end of the month and inviting people to come in costume; they promise it will be sPOOky. Sign up here.

Filed Under: blue plains, D.C. Water, dc water,