‘Poop power’ pilot project performs well at Waterloo dog parks
WATERLOO — Waterloo’s “poop power” pilot project has the whiff of success.
Special dog waste receptacles were installed in three parks in the city in mid-May, and both the city and manufacturer are impressed with how they’re performing.
“So far, it’s actually working really well,” said Rhonda-Lee Fetterly, park technologist for the city. “The odour is minimal to none.”
Mayor Dave Jaworsky called it “poop power” when he introduced the project earlier this year at his state of the city address, saying Waterloo will be the first municipality to pilot the eco-friendly dog waste program that turns feces into energy and fertilizer.
The receptacles were installed at Bechtel Park, Lakeshore Optimist Park in north Waterloo and St. Moritz Park.
They’re easy to use: dog owners simply drop a plastic bag of dog waste into the thin green receptacle.
The contents are emptied with a vacuum truck and taken to a local plant for processing, where the plastic is separated from the waste. The energy produced is sold back to the grid and the remaining waste is turned into liquid nitrogen for fertilizer.
The city has a year-long agreement with manufacturer Sutera, part of Waterloo-based Melloul-Blamey Construction, to test out the receptacles and Fetterly said they’re working as advertised.
“They don’t smell. People are using them. I’m quite pleased,” she said.
Sutera is pleased, too.
“So far, I think it’s exceeded our expectation,” said Bill Higgins, director of business development.
When the three receptacles were emptied after 45 days, there was little to no odour and they were clean around the opening.
“They aren’t filling up as fast as we expected,” Higgins said. “It’s extremely compact.”
After six weeks, the containers were only 60 to 70 per cent full. That means a reduced operating cost because emptying will be less frequent.
Initially it was thought the Bechtel Park one would need to be emptied every week due to its proximity to the dog park, but now that’s been pushed to upwards of 10 weeks.
The receptacles are monitored weekly for the volume, internal temperature and smell.
“I went out on the hottest day I could find,” Higgins said.
On a day that reached 31 C, Higgins said the temperature inside the receptacle was 16.5 C.
That’s compared to 33.5 C in an aboveground pet waste container, 41.5 C in an open barrel and 27.1 C in a semi in-ground plastic container.
Sutera is in discussions with other Ontario municipalities about installing the receptacles, and there’s a lot of interest from across Canada and the United States. The city is fielding calls as well.
After 45 days, 600 kilograms of dog feces was collected from the three Waterloo parks, diverting an estimated 0.06 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
“We’re extremely pleased with the results,” Higgins said.
Separating dog poop from the regular garbage reduces what’s going to landfill, and also keeps the parks cleaner and saves city staff from handling the heavy and smelly garbage, Fetterly said. Less emptying is also needed for Lakeshore park, where there are regular barrel garbage bins.
The city plans to do some public education to ensure people know about the specialized receptacles and how to use them. Staff will do a full analysis of the pilot after a year, but for now the results look good.
“It is quite promising,” Fetterly said.