The Potomac Valley Audubon Society will sponsor a tour of the Shepherdstown wastewater treatment plant on Saturday, April 4.

The tour will begin at 11 a.m. and last about an hour. It will be free, and anyone with an interest is welcome to participate.

Plant personnel will explain how wastewater treatment systems work, and how they help control pollutants to keep waterways and groundwaters clean. Water quality is a key natural resource issue in this region.

Tour participants will be able to view the ways in which wastewater is filtered and purified through various stages, including tanks where naturally occurring bacteria and other microorganisms break down and digest organic matter, tanks where remaining wastes settle out from the water, and chlorination and oxygenation processes.

The Shepherdstown plant, which is approaching 30 years of service, is undergoing significant renovations.

The plant is located at 409 E. High St., just east of downtown Shepherdstown. To get there from the four-way stop in Shepherdstown, take German Street east to Princess Street, go left on Princess Street to High Street, and go right on High. The entrance to the plant a little over one-tenth of a mile past the train tracks, on the left.

Proceed to the end of the entrance road to the parking lot.

For more information, contact Peter Smith at (304) 876-1139 or pvsmith@frontiernet.net.

The Potomac Valley Audubon Society is a nonprofit organization and a member of the United Way of the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia and the Combined Federal Campaign.