I realized that I don’t know much about how waste water treatment works so I set out to learn more. The following are some of the resources that I used to get a better basic understanding.
EPA 6 page pamphlet on the basics from 1998: How Wastewater Treatment Works… The Basics
EPA Effluent Guidelines: https://www.epa.gov/eg
EPA Municipal Wastewater: https://www.epa.gov/npdes/municipal-wastewater
YouTube – How does Wastewater treatment work? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDtUpkMqu6E
YouTube – Wastewater: Where does it go? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaXth88i7rk
What are some interesting things I learned?
- Some wastewater treatment plants process both waste water and storm water. Will this new plant handle both?
- Will the plant do emergency discharge events during heavy rainfall dumping raw untreated sewage into the creek? If it handles storm water, the answer is yes.
- Waste water treatment plants are not designed to treat chemicals that can be in your pharmaceuticals or your personal care products. The purpose is to remove solids and pathogens.
- Will disinfection be done utilizing chlorine, ozone, or UV?
- According to one video there are/were 14748 treatment plants in the USA.