Time: 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Tour Coordinator: Renee Stoops

At each stop on the tour, a professional staff from the managing organization will guide the group through the site. The tour will begin at The Oregon Garden Wetlands, a 17+ acre site that accepts almost all of the City of Silverton's municipal treated wastewater for further nutrient removal and temperature reduction before the water re-enters the watershed at Brush Creek. These wetlands are incorporated into a botanical display garden, used for irrigation and education, and must carefully balance aesthetic concerns with treatment function and ecology. Next stop on the tour will be the City of Mt Angel's treatment wetlands. Although Mt Angel is a relatively small town, it hosts one of the area's largest regional festivals- Ocktoberfest. As no discharge to the river is permitted during the summer months,  the lagoons and wetlands must treat and store water for winter release. Next will be the City of Woodburn's pilot treatment wetlands and their hybrid poplar treatment. Woodburn has pioneered Oregon WWTP use of poplars to treat effluent. Their pilot wetland study is hoping to demonstrate the safety of hyperheic discharge of wetland-treated water to the river. The City of Salem's Willow Lake Facility will likely be the last stop on the tour (though we'll see what else we can squeeze in). Salem's wetlands are designed for staged treatment, including grassy overland flow, vertical/subsurface treatment, constructed wetlands, and habitat wetlands. Although they routinely produce extremely high quality water in the Natural Reclamation System, they are not permitted to discharge this water to the river and may only use it in permitted reuse irrigation fields nearby.

Fee of $65 includes continental breakfast, box lunch, admission to The Oregon Garden, and transportation.