PROJECT OVERVIEW

Salisbury Beach State Reservation is a three-season park that encompasses 521 acres and extends nearly four miles along the shore. In its peak summer season, 10,000 visitors per day visit its beaches, campground, playground, fishing areas and picnic pavilion. Waste treatment expansion was necessary but the park’s environmental issues (barrier beach, fragile dunes, nitrogen sensitivity) excluded a septic system and required a costly on-site waste treatment plant.

With the intention of dispersing and alleviating damaging foot traffic, the state decided to position three new 900-square-foot comfort stations throughout the reservation, each with lifeguard and staff facilities. The bathhouses are equipped with waterless toilets connected to Clivus composting systems that retain and treat all the solid waste and reduce wastewater by over 1 million gallons per season. Liquid fertilizer from the composters is collected in storage tanks and pumped off by a licensed septage hauler. Virtually nitrogen-free greywater from the sinks and showers is sent to a soil absorption system that will be efficient for many years to come.

Architect:
S.E.A Consultants, Inc.,
Cambridge, MA