Benefits
As a primary performance benefit, the Living Machine® system at Port of Portland will reduce the facility’s water consumption by treating up to 5,000 gallons per day of wastewater to a high quality reuse standard. The Living Machine® system meets the low system operational cost and resource requirements of the public agency building while fitting into a relatively limited space. In addition, the system will be a showcase for the Port of Portland and will offer visitors the opportunity to learn more about the natural water purification taking place. The system can be placed indoors in a public area because it does not generate significant sludge or methane thereby eliminating the odors and reducing the air pollution associated with conventional wastewater treatment.
The Port of Portland had multiple objectives for the wastewater system in their new headquarters. It had to be sustainable, costeffective, attractive, and allow reuse, but above all, it had to provide advanced wastewater treatment. The Living Machine® system was the only approach to wastewater treatment that could meet all the criteria and was, therefore, chosen for the project. The Living Machine® system is being designed as a showcase feature in the lobby of this building and the center of the sustainable water strategy for the facility. The system includes a tiered series of wetland cells supporting the growth of indoor landscaping and ornamental flowers. In addition to these features, the Living Machine® system is designed to treat all of the facility sanitary wastewater to a quality suitable for reuse, including toilet flushing and makeup water for cooling towers. The Living Machine® system will demonstrate state-of-the-art technology for wastewater management and highlight sustainability. In addition to the Living Machine® system, the project’s design options include, but are not limited to: passive solar design; rapidly renewable, or regionally manufactured, finish materials and systems; geothermal heating and cooling; water efficient fixtures; and day lighting coupled with lighting controls.
Port of Portland Headquaters Virtural Tour:
http://www.portofportland.com/prj_POP_HQP2_Home.aspx
Zimmer Gunsul Frasca (ZGF) Architects:
Domestic wastewater from a new office building at the Port of Portland is collected in a dual-compartment 10,000 gallon tank for coarse solids removal, wastewater strength reduction, and flow equalization. Effluent from the primary tank is pumped into a Tidal Wetland Living Machine® system that consists of six watertight basins containing subsurface plumbing, gravel-like media, and an assortment of native and tropical plantings. Two of the cells are located indoors in the lobby atrium, and the other four are outside at the building entrance. The Living Machine® tidal wetland cells utilize a “fill and drain” cycles. The draining process allows thin films of beneficial microorganisms to grow on the surface of the treatment media which provide ample nitrification of the wastewater. Treated effluent from the tidal wetland cells is polished in an adjacent outdoor one-pass vertical flow wetland, and is then disinfected prior to reuse in the office non-potable system (for toilet flushing) and in cooling water make-up.