The Tri-Cities Airport in Pasco is enlisting an unlikely partner to help with the treatment of wastewater from airplane de-icing operations: worms.

The airport is teaming up with the California-based BioFiltro for a 180-day pilot program. The facility will use BioFiltro’s 90-square-foot patented Biodynamic Aerobic system, which consists of a bed of wood shavings filled with earthworm and microbial activity, the airport said in a statement. 

“The worms serve many functions in the system, including aerating, turning nutrients into vermicompost or worm castings, and maintaining the biofilm that is essential to biological wastewater treatment,” the statement said. “After the pilot period, BioFiltro and Tri-Cities Airport plan to explore a full-scale system that will lead the aviation industry to a new standard for turning deicing fluid into clean water and natural fertilizer.”

The airport de-ices planes in the winter and disposes of the wastewater – which is made of substances such ethylene glycol and propylene glycol that can hurt the environment if they’re not properly disposed of – through the Pasco Wastewater Treatment Facility. But as airline activity increases, “the airport is getting ahead of potential de-icing disposal problems by employing BioFiltro to treat their wastewater on site before discharging, while also boosting their sustainability by choosing a natural, low-tech, low-input and energy efficient treatment system,” the statement said.

Buck Taft, airport director, said it may sound strange to use worms to treat de-icing fluid. “But we’re excited to tap into this innovative, sustainable way to manage a necessary aviation product. We hope this pilot program will be a success story for the entire aviation industry,” he said in the statement.