Barnstable County Clean Water Center

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Barnstable County Clean Water Center Protecting Cape Cod’s water through I/A research, education, innovation, workforce development, and community partnerships. Housing MASSTC, SUP & AquiFund

As our Director Brian Baumgaertel always says “We need to take a blended approach when we think about wastewater solutio...
10/19/2026

As our Director Brian Baumgaertel always says “We need to take a blended approach when we think about wastewater solutions.”

Sewering, composting toilets, urine diverting toilets, advanced treatment I/A systems,all have to be taken into consideration. There’s no wrong or right.

What are your thoughts on this?

The Clean Water Center (CWC) hosted a site tour for our partners from UMass Boston’s Sustainable Solutions Laboratory (S...
10/14/2026

The Clean Water Center (CWC) hosted a site tour for our partners from UMass Boston’s Sustainable Solutions Laboratory (SSL). The SSL works to advance climate justice by bridging sectors, convening diverse collaborators, and leading transdisciplinary, community‑centered research to drive equitable climate adaptation. Established in 2016, the SSL is celebrating its 10‑year anniversary this fall.

In recent months, the SSL and CWC’s Septic Utility Program (SUP) have partnered on several projects to assess the needs and capacity of the existing wastewater workforce and to develop new curricula and training opportunities that will support, sustain, and grow this critical workforce across the Commonwealth.

Learn more about the Sustainable Solutions Lab at www.umb.edu/ssl/

Learn more about our Septic Utility Program here: www.capecod.gov/clean-water-center/

TOMORROW! Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow for Beyond the Flush: Vero Beach’s Experience with Liquid-Only Sew...
10/12/2026

TOMORROW! Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow for Beyond the Flush: Vero Beach’s Experience with Liquid-Only Sewers.

Join the NEWEA Nitrogen Reducing (NR) Septic System Task Force and the Barnstable County Clean Water Center for an informative presentation and Q&A with Rob Bolton, Director of Water and Sewer for Vero Beach, Florida.

Vero Beach shares many of Cape Cod’s wastewater challenges—including nutrient pollution in coastal, sandy soils and the need to transition properties from septic systems to sewers. After extensive evaluation, Vero Beach selected Liquid-Only Sewers (LOS) combined with gravity sewers as its approach for serving existing homes.

It should be a really interesting talk.
Haven’t signed up yet?
There’s about 10 spots left.

Learn more and RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beyond-the-flush-vero-beachs-experience-with-liquid-only-sewers-tickets-2002594159038

10/09/2026

Thanks to the The Provincetown Independent or including us in the article on “Cape’s Septic Researchers Look for an Alternative to the Alternative.”

“Removing nitrogen from watersheds is a court-ordered priority for all Cape Cod towns, and I/A systems are a proven way to do it. But Brian Horsley, a researcher at the Mass. Alternative Septic System Test Center (MASSTC) in Falmouth, is pursuing an alternative.

Since joining the center in 2020, Horsley has been researching “eco-toilets” that trap waste in a tank and turn it into compost rather than allowing it to leach into the ground the way cesspools and Title 5 systems do. They’re cheaper to install than I/A systems, Horsley said, and may be comparable in their ability to reduce nitrogen output.”

Read more in this weeks The Provincetown Independent!

From cranberry bogs to storytime, we celebrated Cape Cod Clean Water Week by learning how healthy wetlands and protected...
10/05/2026

From cranberry bogs to storytime, we celebrated Cape Cod Clean Water Week by learning how healthy wetlands and protected natural resources help keep our waters clean and our communities resilient. Thank you to everyone who joined us, and to our wonderful partners at Barnstable Clean Water Coalition and Sturgis Library for helping connect people of all ages with the importance of caring for Cape Cod’s land and water.

Barnstable County Clean Water Center

Learn about Vero Beach’s decade-long LOS experience, including costs, lessons learned, expansion plans, and a Q&A.Join t...
10/05/2026

Learn about Vero Beach’s decade-long LOS experience, including costs, lessons learned, expansion plans, and a Q&A.

Join the NEWEA Nitrogen Reducing (NR) Septic System Task Force and the Barnstable County Clean Water Center for an informative presentation and Q&A with Rob Bolton, Director of Water and Sewer for Vero Beach, Florida.

Vero Beach shares many of Cape Cod’s wastewater challenges—including nutrient pollution in coastal, sandy soils and the need to transition properties from septic systems to sewers. After extensive evaluation, Vero Beach selected Liquid-Only Sewers (LOS) combined with gravity sewers as its approach for serving existing homes.

RSVP here: https://loom.ly/HxQblSk

Amy DuFault here again, coming at you from Iceland where I’m traveling around on a personal trip but finding it hard not...
10/01/2026

Amy DuFault here again, coming at you from Iceland where I’m traveling around on a personal trip but finding it hard not to look at how water and wastewater are being treated here being Iceland’s most precious resource.

Found this Kazuba eco toilet in the parking lot of one of the most famous seal watching beaches in Iceland.

From the Kazuba site: the toilet is “famous for its unique evaporation/drying mechanism which works with no need for water, electricity or chemicals. This, coupled with the surprisingly low maintenance and high capacity, makes Kazuba the premium eco-friendly alternative to a normal “flushing” toilet, especially in situations where the toilet is used more than just a few times a day.

Kazuba loos are ideal for lots of different purposes but most of our installations have in common that they are located off the grid (with no access to sewerage) and need to be able to deal with moderate to high volumes of “input”.

Texting all this yesterday to MASSTC Project Assistant Bryan Horsley and he asked “How’d it smell?”
I responded that though the design was cool it smelled awful and was filthy inside.

Innovative treatment systems are great until there’s no plan for how you properly take care of them. Our Septic Utility Program (SUP), offers this support to sample and help homeowners better understand how to take care of the advanced treatment systems they’ve chosen. You should head to our site and check out what they do.

Now, if we’d only gotten training on how to take care of the septic systems that came with our own homes, we might be in a better place on Cape Cod.

“Maintenance is key man.” Bryan texted me. That goes for any type of system.

How are you taking care of the system in your own backyard? Are you?

09/29/2026

Amy DuFault your Clean Water Center communications person over here in Iceland, scouting out unique toilets and wondering about the water quality here.

Did you know that water in Iceland is famously clean and among the purest in the world? This is largely due to the island’s unique geology. Rain and snowmelt filter slowly through layers of porous volcanic rock, collecting underground where the water is naturally purified over the years.

More info on other reasons why that I grabbed from online:

1. Minimal Pollution: Iceland’s small population and limited heavy industry mean that water sources remain largely free from contamination.

2. Underground Aquifers: Most water in Iceland comes from deep groundwater sources rather than surface lakes or rivers, protecting it from pollutants.

3. Natural Volcanic Filtration: Rain and snowmelt pass slowly through porous volcanic rock, which filters out impurities before the water reaches aquifers.

4. Cold Underground Temperatures: Consistently low temperatures help limit bacterial growth and preserve water quality.

What can Cape Cod learn from Iceland? Got some ideas?

Also, a scene from Game of Thrones was filmed here 🔥

Did you know??How do YOU propose we protect and conserve water?
09/25/2026

Did you know??
How do YOU propose we protect and conserve water?

09/23/2026

The channel, our space for wastewater meditation.
Listen to that delightful babble…

Did you know that we are one of the only places in the U.S. that offers raw wastewater to the companies testing their technologies? Truth!

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4 Kittridge Road
Buzzards Bay, MA
02542

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