Charlottesville House & Home magazine devotes its Dec/Jan 2009 issue to ideas for making your house smarter from an environmental standpoint. On page 34 of this issue is a story about Enviro-Klean, and its role in making the environment greener.
The magazine’s cover asks the reader “How Smart is Your House?” and our’s is but one story covering this timely and interesting subject.
Check it out by going to www.houseandhomemag.com.
When Enviro-Klean’s President Mike Clark sought permission from the Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors to allow him to use constructed wetlands on his Starlite Construction’s Central Meadows cluster housing development, he was turned down on a 3 to 3 vote. That was in August of 2007. Clark contended that he did not need a special use permit, that he could use “constructed wetlands” by right under county zoning ordinances and that the BOS was only trying to limit growth through the back door.
He filed suit in September 2007, and in June, 2008 a district court judge agreed with Clark. Clark now is moving forward to develop a final site plan using this new and exciting method of effluent disposal which not only takes care of the treated liquid, but removes the nutrients by growing exotic plants in the wetlands. This will go a long way to helping clean up the Chesapeake Bay, Clark said.
Contact Mike Clark at enviromjc@earthlink.net if you are interested in more details.
The Virginia Department of Health’s chief engineer has approved Enviro-Klean’s first wastewater treatment system using a constructed wetland for disposal of the out-flow.
“This is an exciting day for us at Enviro-Klean,” President Mike Clark said,”because this leads us to a new day in treating the environment with special care.
“Using wetlands we not only take care of the liquid effluent in an efficient manner, but we eliminate the migration of nitrates — the culprit in clogging our streams and Chesapeake Bay with oxygen-killing algae,” he added.
Clark went on to explain that the new technology will be applied to a newly renovated home just off I-64 near Kents Store, Virginia. He predicted that in the coming months it will become a demonstration project to be visited by many interested and concerned engineers and environmentalists looking for a superior way to dispose of residential and small commercial wastewater.
Those interested in more details should contact Enviro-Klean Co., 151 Starlite Park, Troy, VA 22974 or by calling (434) 589-4302.
Enviro-Klean designers and engineers are working on a new technology to use in disposing of the discharge from our Norweco Wastewater Treatment systems.
Instead of using the most common technology, sub-surface drip irrigation or Wisconsin Sand Mound drip irrigation applications, the liquid discharge would go into a “constructed wetland.” This involves the creation of a small wetland complete with aquadic plants into which the effluent would be discharged. There Mother Nature would do the rest.
The plants would take out the nutrients which have in some cases ended up in places like the Chesapeake Bay. Those nutrients have promoted the growth of oxygen killing algae which in turn makes it impossible for that body of water to support marine life.
This technology has been used for years in Europe and in part of the U.S. and Enviro-Klean is pleased to be pioneering in yet another way to protect our environment while at the same time disposing of human and household wastes.
Stay tuned to this site for further developments.
Fluvanna County, Enviro-Klean’s home county, in 2004 adopted a comprehensive cluster development plan for housing developments. Under the plan, a developer can build on only 25 percent of his acreage, leaving 75 percent in open spaces.
In 2006, the Virginia General Assembly thought this was such a grand idea for preserving green space, that it adopted legislation requiring all counties in the Commonwealth to provide ordances covering cluster development with at least 40 percent set aside as open space.
The first cluster in Fluvanna County to reach the construction stage is Hauser Homes’ Sycamore Landing near Troy. Model home construction started in late November and they are set to open around February 1.
All 77 homes will be served by Norweco Alternate Wastewater Treatment systems designed, built, installed and to be serviced by the Enviro-Klean Company.
“We are pleased to be a key player in this new concept of housing development and wastewater treatment,” E-K President Mike Clark said, “and stand ready to work with others in creating environmentally friendly communities with abundent open space in rural Virginia.”
As Enviro-Klean grows and becomes more successful, we have been able to be more supportive of community projects and events. Officers of the Company were present at the recent Fluvanna Chamber of Commerce’s joint card exchange with Charlottesville Chamber at the Lake Monticello Clubhouse. The Company became a 2006-2007 season financial supporter of the Fluvanna Arts Council which brings first class entertainment to the Carysbrook Center for the Performing Arts. And in October, a team of Enviro-Klean employees participated in the Palmyra Fire & Rescue benefit golf tournament at Laurel Ridge Golf Club. “We have had strong support from our community in getting this business going,” said Company Treasurer Bill Anderson, “so it is only proper that we try to give some back.”
Next door to Enviro-Klean’s headquarters near Zion Crossroads (I-64 and Rt.15), we have available for sale 5.7 acres of choice property Zoned B1 - Business, with more than 600 feet of frontage on Rt. 15. Priced to sell quickly at $1.5 million. For information, call (434) 589-4302.
Enviro-Klean is now fully certified for the state of Virginia.