Help for Wastewater Treatment Plant Owners and Operators
Treatment Systems | Treatment Methods | Operation and Troubleshooting | Sludge and Biosolids | Pretreatment | Other Resources
Treatment Systems
Each of these fact sheets tells about the treatment system mentioned in its title. When needed, we describe the system for you and tell you what more its fact sheet covers.
Lagoons
These documents are on websites other than ours. 
Stabilization Pond Systems (Facultative Lagoons) 
Also describes common modifications to the lagoons. (EPA 832-F-02-014; published Sept. 2002)
(EPA 832-F-02-008; published Sept. 2002)
These deep lagoons are used to pretreat high-strength industrial wastewater and municipal wastewater. Under their anaerobic conditions, methane-producing bacteria thrive. (EPA 832-F-02-009; published Sept. 2002)
These premanufactured treatment facilities are designed for wastewater treatment in small communities or on individual properties. (EPA 832-F-00-016; published Sept. 2000)
Aeration: A Wastewater Treatment Process
Wastewater Lagoon Operations Articles
Biological Treatment and Nitrification in Lagoons and Ponds
Small Community Wastewater Issues Explained to the Public
Ever wish your customers could understand how lagoons work? Written for the general public, this issue of Pipeline covers lagoon inspection, testing, and maintenance as well as common lagoon problems. Its publisher — the National Small Flows Clearinghouse — encourages you to make copies and distribute them as needed. (Published Spring 1997)
Wetlands
Each of these documents is a PDF on the EPA's website.
A subsurface flow wetland can be custom designed to treat or polish a specific type of wastewater. Usually, the wetland is a bed or channel filled with a medium that will do the job. Also available in Spanish. (EPA 832-F-00-023; published Sept. 2000)
Free Water Surface Wetlands (FWS)
After discussing the composition and design goals of constructed free water surface wetlands, this fact sheet tells how they can be used to treat wastewater. Also available in Spanish. (EPA 832-F-00-024; published Sept. 2000)
Constructed Wetlands Treatment of Municipal Wastewaters
A design manual, not just a fact sheet. (Published Sept. 2000)
Other Treatment Systems
These documents are PDFs on the EPA's website.
Using long solids-retention times, these "racetrack-type" systems remove biodegradable organics from wastewater. Also available in Spanish. (EPA 832-F-00-013; published Sept. 2000)
Sequencing Batch Reactors – Activated Sludge System
A fill-and-draw activated sludge system for treating wastewater. (EPA 932-F-99-073; published Sept. 1999)
Treatment Methods
Each of these documents is a PDF on a website other than ours.
Granular Activated Carbon Adsorption and Regeneration
This advanced method for treating municipal and industrial wastewater removes traces of soluble organic and inorganic compounds. (EPA 832-F-00-017; published Sept. 2000)
Trickling Filter Nitrification
Using aerobic attached-growth reactors and a process of biological nitrification, these systems significantly reduce nitrogen levels in wastewater by removing ammonia nitrogen. This document also describes the chemical processes involved and factors influencing the kinetics of nitrification. (EPA 832-F-00-015; published Sept. 2000)
(EPA 832-F-99-065; published Sept. 1999)
Various widely used methods make organic substances form larger masses that collect and settle out from wastewater. In other, also widely used methods, products of metals and of other inorganic substances can be removed in a similar way. (EPA 832-F-00-018; published Sept. 2000)
In this method, aerobic microorganisms attached to a filter degrade and remove organic material from wastewater that trickles through. (EPA 832-F-00-014; published Sept. 2000)
Operation and Troubleshooting
Each of these documents is a PDF . Unless otherwise stated, each of these documents is on a website other than ours.
Operation & Maintenance Guide for Imhoff Tank & Oxidation Pond Wastewater Treatment Plants
This TCEQ document was published February 1991
Using these new methods, it's possible to determine the sources of fecal pathogens found in environmental water samples. As shown here, these methods have been used to develop and implement TMDLs (total maximum daily loads). (EPA 832-F-02-010; published May 2002)
In a stripping tower, lime or caustic agents are added to a stream of wastewater. The wastewater then releases any ammonia it contains. This process and two types of stripping towers are described here. Also available in Spanish. (EPA 832-F-00-019; published Sept. 2000)
Also available in Spanish. (EPA 832-F-99-063; published Sept. 1999)
Also available in Spanish. (EPA 832-F-99-064; published Sept. 1999)
How to use chlorine as a disinfectant to inactivate or destroy pathogenic organisms in municipal wastewater. Also available in Spanish. (EPA 832-F-99-062; published Sept. 1999)
Ways to remove residual chlorine from disinfected wastewater before discharging it into the environment. (EPA 832-F-00-022; published Sept. 2000)
Information about systems that screen large objects, comminute and grind less bulky objects, and remove grit in the first stages of treating influent wastewater treatment, (EPA 832-F-03-011; published June 2003)
Rock Media Polishing Filter for Lagoons
Submerged beds of rock can filter algae from lagoon effluents. Learn common configurations for rock media polishing. (EPA 832-F-02-023; published Sept. 2002)
Sludge and Biosolids
Each of these documents is on a website other than ours.
Here the EPA lists many reports and other publications dedicated to biosolids, industry effluent guidelines, and more information on wastewater technology.
By applying biosolids to land or adding wastewater solids to soil, you replenish organic matter and nutrients in the soil. At the same time, you are recycling a resource instead of dealing with a waste. This document describes various types of biosolid injection equipment and tells about the environmental impacts of land application. (EPA 832-F-00-064; published 09/01/2000)
Sludge Management Options for Lagoon Systems
Biosolids – Centrifuge Thickening and Dewatering
In this high-speed process, the force from the rapid rotation of a cylindrical bowl is used to separate wastewater solids from liquid. (EPA 832-F-00-053; published 09/01/2000)
Pretreatment
These documents are on the EPA's website.
EPA Model Pretreatment Ordinance
Other Resources
This document is on the EPA's website.
Ensuring a Sustainable Future: An Energy Management Guidebook for Wastewater and Water Utilities
Use this EPA publication to improve the energy efficiency of your utility. Following the widely successful Plan-Do-Check-Act approach, step by step you will:
- Systematically assess your utility's current energy costs.
- Identify practices that affect the amount of energy used.
- Set measurable goals for improving your utility's energy efficiency.
- Monitor and measure your utility's progress over time.
This guide was written with the help of utilities that used this approach to improve their own energy efficiency. (Published Jan. 2008)
