Wastewater plant receives award

A wastewater treatment facility in California has been presented with an award from the US Environmental Protection Agency.

The Joint Water Pollution Control Plant, which serves around 3.5 million of the state's citizens, was given the National Clean Water Act Recognition Award for Outstanding Operations and Maintenance by the agency in Chicago.

It was singled out for various factors, such as its pollution curbing methods and biosolids management, reported Market Watch.

Steve Maguin, the sanitations district chief engineer and general manager, said that one of its "key achievements" is the plant's "energy self-sufficiency".

"[It uses] biogas created during the wastewater treatment process to generate 22 MW of electricity, making the plant energy self-sufficient and saving $18 million (£11.6 million) a year," he continued.

According to the results of a poll undertaken by Lake Research Partners, energy is something that Americans place a lot of emphasis upon.

The survey discovered that 50 per cent of respondents said they made their decision on which presidential candidate to vote for based on their energy policies.