Record low oxygen levels in Hood Canal over recent years have caused large-scale fish kills and have many people worried that the 60 mile body of water is “dying.” One of the largest identified issues is nitrate and nutrient seepage from the homes along Hood Canal. Once in the water, the effluent feeds massive algae blooms that suck up already scarce oxygen when they die.

One such local business that is working to help with the Hood Canal oxygen problem is Five Star Environmental Solutions. Five Star produces a new generation of advanced onsite wastewater treatment package plants for the individual home as well as for clusters of homes. Referred to as the Un-Septic System, the product removes nitrogen that septic systems, and most alternative systems, were never designed to handle.

Now that the public is aware of the seriousness of the problems in Hood Canal as well as other bodies of water, people are scrambling to find alternatives to paying for big sewers,” remarked Jim Patterson, CEO of Five Star.

In 2003, when the Kitsap Lake Baptist Church wanted to increase the size of its church, it was discovered that the septic system was inadequate and it would need to connect to the sewer line. When access to the sewer was denied, the church sought alternatives. Five Star was able to provided a complete onsite sewer system, and the church saved over $40,000.

The RBC (Rotating Biological Contactor) package plant is self-contained in a single concrete tank, with an on-board septic zone (no septic tank needed), a grease trap, and the RBC treatment unit. It can be described as a trickling filter. It works in much the same manner as a mountain stream, introducing purifying oxygen in the same natural way, producing consistent, high quality treatment, in a natural, environmentally friendly manner. The reclaimed water is then pumped to the drain field via a small diameter tightline, where UV disinfection eliminates any remaining fecal coliform. The end result: fully treated, nitrogen free, recycled water is returned to the aquifer.

The Puget Sound Action Team, with Federal funds secured by Congressman Norm Dicks, has recently awarded a contract for a Cluster Lot demonstration project right along the South Shore of Hood Canal. There, the outdated septic systems from 3 different homes will be replaced with the Five Star Package Plants and share a remote dispersal bed away from the canal, where recycled clean water is dispersed back into the local aquifer.

“This dispersal bed isn’t like the type of drain fields people are used to, with septic. The soils are not needed to treat any of the water, and there is no chance of partially treated waste seeping out into the canal. The water coming out of this system is so clean that it can be tight-lined an unlimited distance to a remote dispersal bed. Its amazing.” said Ezra Eickmeyer, company lobbyist and long-time environmental advocate. “This system can service single home units or dozens, even hundreds of homes together. For the homes along Hood Canal, decentralized cluster systems will be the way to go and this pilot project will prove it.”

Five Star can be reached at (360) 697-3633 or fivestar@silverlink.net.