Wastewater Treatment
The Authority owns and operates two water resource recovery facilities.
Blue Rock Water Resource Recovery Facility
This facility has a design capacity of treating 15 million gallons of wastewater per day. The facility utilizes preliminary, primary, and secondary treatment processes to achieve compliance with its National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit. Preliminary treatment mechanically removes debris such as rags and grit that may be harmful to downstream equipment. Primary treatment is designed to remove settable and floatable solids. Secondary treatment utilizes a combination of chemical and biological processes to reduce any remaining constituents to a level that is set by the NPDES Permit. All materials removed from the wastewater, called biosolids, are treated and disposed of utilizing environmentally sound and approved methods.
The responsibilities of this department include operation and general maintenance of the treatment facility and grounds, laboratory testing, industrial pretreatment, and trucked waste management.
West Earl Water Resource Recovery Facility
This facility has a design capacity of treating 545,000 gallons of wastewater per day. The facility utilizes a Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) process to treat sewage to the requirements of its NPDES permit. In an SBR system, all treatment processes occur within the same tank, reducing the space needed and simplifying maintenance. Solids from this facility are transported to the Blue Rock Water Resource Recovery Facility for further treatment.