"Up to 1,000 gallons per day": Roseville to convert wastewater into methane to power waste collection fleet
ROSEVILLE — The City of Roseville has a new way to power its vehicles: they're using wastewater and turning it into fuel.
Believe it or not, what goes down, will soon power up part of Roseville.
"We're really excited about this because we've been planning since 2016," said Devin Whittington, assistant utility director for the city.
Whittington said it's called the Energy Recovery Project. Essentially, they're taking wastewater, converting it into methane, and putting it into a form that can fuel their waste collection fleet.
"It's a direct substitute for diesel or gas," Whittington said. "We convert it to what they call a diesel gallon equivalent, and the plan will produce up to 1,000 gallons per day."
It's half the cost of diesel. So not only will it help save the city money, but also the environment.
"It gives us that long-term stability so we can forecast prices for the next twenty years," Whittington said.
And this is just the beginning. Soon, food waste will also be turned into fuel.
Right now, the City of Roseville has about 14 renewable natural gas-powered trucks and plans to add 33 more.