D.C. Turns Poop to Power

No, the title does not refer to Congress, it is meant to be taken literally: It is about the District of Columbia's sewage treatment plant that produces renewable energy by treating its biosolids with a new hydrolysis technology imported from Norway.

2 minute read

October 10, 2015, 5:00 AM PDT

By Irvin Dawid


The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (D.C. Water), "which also treats sewage from much of the Maryland and Northern Virginia suburbs, recently became the first utility in North America to use a Norwegian thermal hydrolysis system to convert the sludge left over from treated sewage into electricity," writes Katherine Shaver for The Washington Post.

In a Washington Post article last year on the process, Ashley Halsey III wrote that "D.C. Water is the (local) electricity company’s No. 1 customer. By converting poop to power, the water company will cut its Pepco bill by about one third and reduce by half the cost of trucking treated waste elsewhere." The electricity generation from the biomethane produced through anaerobic digesters amounts to 13 megawatts of power.

Anaerobic digestion is not what's new here—it's the "'pressure cooker' technology that can fit such a system in the relatively tight confines of an urban treatment plant," writes Shaver. D.C. Water officials say it’s the largest of its kind in the world. Click here to view the graphic.

“It’s a huge deal on so many fronts,” D.C. Water General Manager George S. Hawkins said after Wednesday’s [Oct. 7] official unveiling of the system. “It’s a public utility leading the world in innovation and technology. We have private and public water companies coming from all over the world to see this.”

From the 2014 article:

“It could be a game changer for energy,” said George Hawkins, an environmentalist who became general manager of D.C. Water. “If we could turn every enriched-water facility in the United States into a power plant, it would become one of the largest sectors of clean energy that, at the moment, is relatively untapped.”

In addition to producing biomethane for electricity generation, the plant produces a "Class A compost-like substance (that) could show up in the next year or so on the shelves of Home Depot as a soil nutrient for home gardens, officials said," adds Shaver.

When you consider the "toilet-to-tap" wastewater recycling process out west, one is left with the recognition that sewage treatment centers may be one of America's last unexploited resources, although this exploitation is environmentally sustainable. Not tapping it would be a shame.

Correspondent's note: See the Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels Data Center to distinguish renewable natural gas from biogas.

Hat tip: Kenyon Karl, Sierra Club

Wednesday, October 7, 2015 in The Washington Post

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Use Code 25for25 at checkout for 25% off an annual plan!

Redlining map of Oakland and Berkeley.

Rethinking Redlining

For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

May 15, 2025 - Alan Mallach

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

May 21, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Rendering of California High-Speed Rail station with bullet train.

California High-Speed Rail's Plan to Right Itself

The railroad's new CEO thinks he can get the project back on track. The stars will need to align this summer.

May 19, 2025 - Benjamin Schneider

Aerial view of dense urban center with lines indicating smart city concept.

Why a Failed ‘Smart City’ Is Still Relevant

A Google-backed proposal to turn an underused section of Toronto waterfront into a tech hub holds relevant lessons about privacy and data.

30 minutes ago - Governing

Pale yellow Sears kit house with red tile roof in Sylva, North Carolina.

When Sears Pioneered Modular Housing

Kit homes sold in catalogs like Sears and Montgomery Ward made homeownership affordable for midcentury Americans.

1 hour ago - The Daily Yonder

Waffle House restaurant in rural open area with large yellow and black sign and several cars parked in front.

Starting in 2026, You Can Charge Your EV at Waffle House

The 24-hour chain infamous for brawls and, to a lesser extent, waffles plans to install fast-chargers at many of its locations.

2 hours ago - Jalopnik