What is total wastewater?
Total wastewater is the amount treated at the City's Wastewater Treatment Plant in one calendar year. However, our wastewaters are a combination of several sources including household sanitary sewage, industrial discharges, groundwater infiltrating into the sanitary sewers, and footing drains discharging to the sanitary system.
How does wastewater treatment affect the environment?
The most common form of pollution control in the United States consists of a system of sewers and wastewater treatment plants. The sewers collect municipal wastewater from homes, businesses, and industries and deliver it to facilities for treatment before it is discharged to water bodies or land, or reused.
The basic function of the wastewater treatment plant is to speed up the natural processes by which water purifies itself. In earlier years, the natural treatment process in streams and lakes was adequate to perform basic wastewater treatment. As our population and industry grew to their present size, increased levels of treatment prior to discharging domestic wastewater became necessary.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
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