Ashfield is the first town in the United States to use solar aquatics technology as its only method of treating its sewage. Prior to the use of solar aquatics the town was sending its sewage directly to the South River; a clear violation of the Clean Water Act. The town eventually decided to go with Solar Aquatics because it claimed to produce cleaner water at a cheaper price.

The town ran into trouble trying to convince politicians and civil planners to allow them to use this new technology because of fears that it has not been tested on a large scale market. This caused some cost issues due to planners allowing construction to take place by those skilled only in traditional wastewater treatment methods. Regardless of the minor setbacks, the plant seems to be running well.

This facility is run by the county under the full support of the residents it serves. The plant is fully enclosed within a green house and has the ability to serve up to 100 homes and 15,000 gallons of sewage a day.

Currently 30 homes are connected to this system, with more expected in the future. Their design has further benefited the community financially by drawing in 2000 eco-tourists a year.

Using solar aquatics worked for this town because a more traditional system would have required costly construction to pipe the wastewater further out. The reduction in both smell and noise pollution enabled the solar aquatics plant to be located within the community.