By CHARLES H. FEATHERSTONE
Columbia Basin Herald
EPHRATA, Wash. — It somehow seems appropriate to raise black crappie in treated sewage water.
And that’s what Ephrata does in a giant pond at its water treatment plant.
“We’re out here in la la land, and a lot of these plants will pipe (treated) water back into town for lawns and parks,” said Troy Zerb, manager of Ephrata’s Water Reclamation Facility. “We use ours to recharge the groundwater.”
But that’s not all.
In addition to four ponds that will allow the treated water to trickle back into the aquifer beneath Ephrata, there is a fifth pond, lined with clay so the water doesn’t seep into the ground, that Zerb said they will fill with treated water and then raise fish in.
“We had this beautiful water coming out of this plant, so we said, let’s do something cool with it,” Zerb said.
The plant filters that water, adds bacteria to break up the solid waste, lets that waste settle out, filters the water again, and then treats it with ultraviolet light to kill anything that might remain.
Marc Petersen, a fish biologist for the state Department of Ecology, said black crappie don’t need to be fed, and they keep fairly close to the bottom so birds can’t get to them.
“These are the kind of fish that can survive in this water year round,” Petersen said. “If this was a fish hatchery, it would cost at least $50,000 for two employees, and this is cleaner water than you’d find in most fish hatcheries.”
The city raised and stocked out roughly 2,500 fish last year, he added.
