The City of Perry operates a 3 million gallon per day (MGD) activated sludge wastewater treatment plant and treats an average of 2.1 MGD per day. Activated Sludge refers to the process of “farming” microorganisms by providing food and air. The microorganisms treat the wastewater through biological and chemical processes. The Wastewater Utility consists of two divisions, Collection and Treatment, and provides wastewater services to over 5,300 customers.
The Clean Water Act of 1972 sought to restore and preserve our nation’s waterways by eliminating discharges of pollutants. As a component of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permitting Program, the Pretreatment Program was formed to address discharges from industries to publicly owned treatment works (POTWs). Under Pretreatment Program regulations, industries must meet certain limits for pollutants in their wastewater. These regulations ensure that heavy discharges and toxic pollutants from industries are not discharged to the POTWs and, in turn, possibly to the receiving stream.
The primary objectives of the City of Perry’s Pretreatment Program are to:
- Protect the environment and public health and safety;
- Protect the sewers and wastewater treatment plant from damage due to an accidental or deliberate discharge of pollutants;
- Provide safe working conditions for sewer utility workers;
- Prevent the introduction of substances that would block or obstruct the sewer system;
- Prevent the introduction of pollutants into the sewer system which would interfere with the wastewater treatment process or pass through the plant and into Big Indian Creek.
The collection system consists of 76,560 linear feet (14.5 miles) of force main, approximately 530,640 linear feet (100.50 miles) of gravity sewer of various diameters and materials and seventeen (17) sewage liftstations.
