Agency overview | |
---|---|
Jurisdiction | Metro Detroit |
Headquarters | Water Board Building 735 Randolph Street Detroit, MI 48226 |
Motto | One Water, One Team |
Employees | 1033 |
Agency executive |
|
Website | glwater |
The Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) is a regional water authority in the U.S. state of Michigan. It provides drinking water treatment, drinking water distribution, wastewater collection, and wastewater treatment services for the Southeast Michigan communities, including Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties, among others. GLWA overlays a majority of the water and sewer assets which were formerly operated and maintained by the Detroit Water Sewer District (DWSD) prior to the bankruptcy of the City of Detroit, Michigan.
The Great Lakes Water Authority was created in the fall of 2014 under a United States bankruptcy court order issued as part of the City of Detroit bankruptcy proceedings. [1] The Detroit City Council voted to join the authority in September 2014 by a 7–2 vote, and the county commissions of Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties voted to join in October 2014. [2] The first meeting of the GLWA board was held on December 12, 2014. [2]
The 40-year lease deal was approved on June 12, 2015, by a 5–1 vote of the Great Lakes Water Authority board, marking a historic regionalization of water control hailed by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. [3] [1] The assumption of much of Detroit Water and Sewerage Department's (DWSD) operations by the Great Lakes Water Authority will allow Detroit to fund improvements to Detroit's aging water infrastructure, such as repairs to old treatment facilities and leaking pipes. [1] [4] The lease payments to Detroit must be used for water purposes, and cannot be diverted to the general fund. [4] The deal allows DWSD's workforce to be reduced from around 1,400 to around 500. [4] The Great Lakes Water Authority will have about 900 employees. [4]
In October 2015, following a nationwide search, Sue McCormick, the director of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, was named the first chief executive officer of the Great Lakes Water Authority. [5]
GLWA formally assumed operations from the Detroit Water Sewer District on January 1, 2016. The GLWA also assumed $4 billion of DWSD's debt. [1] The assumption of Detroit's operations and debt is under a 40-year lease that GLWA has over the City of Detroit's water system. [1] The lease agreement was brokered in secret mediation by U.S. District Judge Sean Cox and required "lengthy and contentious negotiations" between Detroit and suburban Detroit leaders, who feared any prospect of bailing out Detroit's water system. [3] [4] Under the agreement, the authority will pay the City "$50 million a year plus about $50 million a year toward pension costs and a fund to help struggling customers" in exchange for the city's water system. [3]
The Great Lakes Water Authority is governed by a board of directors. [6] [3] It consists of two representatives of the City of Detroit and one representative each from Oakland County, Macomb County, Wayne County, and the State of Michigan. [1] [7] The Detroit representatives are appointed by the mayor, the county representatives are appointed by their respective counties, and the state representative is appointed by the governor. [8] The governor's appointee is intended to represent users of the water authority's services outside Oakland, Macomb, and Wayne, such as users in Washtenaw, Genesee, and Monroe counties. [4] [8]
The primary administrative center for the GLWA is the Water Board Building, which is located at 735 Randolph Street in downtown Detroit, Michigan. The Water Board Building houses the meeting chamber for the Board of Directors, and includes offices for the management officers for the GLWA.
Sue McCormick, who led GLWA since its inception, submitted her resignation as CEO on July 28, 2021. [9] McCormick stepped down after increased pressure from local leaders when a loss of sewer pumping capacity happened during the June 28 rainfall event which realized six inches of rainfall depth over the Detroit metropolitan area. Suzanne Coffey, previously the agency's chief planning officer was named interim CEO by the GLWA Board of Directors on August 11, 2021. [10] On June 27, 2022, it was announced that she would be promoted to permanent CEO. [11]
Name | Position | Representing |
---|---|---|
Brian Baker | Board Chairperson | Macomb County |
Mark Miller | Board Vice-Chairperson | State of Michigan |
John J. Zech | Board Secretary | Wayne County |
Jaye Quadrozzi | Member | Oakland County |
Freman Hendrix | Member | City of Detroit |
Gary A. Brown | Member | City of Detroit |
The utility authority provides drinking water treatment, water transmission, wastewater collection, and wastewater treatment services to almost four million customers from about 125 Michigan communities in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, and other counties. [1] [4] About 75% of the authority's customers reside in the suburbs, with the remaining customers residing in the City of Detroit. [4] The GLWA operates combined sewer overflow (CSO) facilities, drinking water booster pump stations, drinking water in-system storage, and wastewater pump stations. Small-diameter local water distribution mains and sanitary sewer in the local communities remain under their individual control.
The Central Services Facility (CSF) located at 6425 Huber Street in Detroit serves as the headquarters for all of the field maintenance staff which operate and maintain the non-treatment assets within the water distribution and wastewater collection service area. These assets include the large capacity raw sewage pumping stations which serve to lift sewage along the main interceptors, as well as the in-system drinking water booster stations which are located throughout the water distribution system. The CSF houses a central fusion control center which serves as a central control hub that can supervise the operation of all the treatment facilities, as well as the combined sewer overflow (CSO) assets, and security camera feeds for all GLWA properties.
Distribution system member communities
The authority has not yet set water rates (which could be variable by community), although it aims to determine rates by March 2016 and make them effective by July 1, 2016. [1] Annual rate increases will be capped at four percent for the first ten years of the authority's existence. [2]
GLWA operates five drinking water treatment plants, [12] one wastewater reclamation facility, nine combined sewer overflow treatment/screening facilities, water storage facilities/booster pump stations, and a central service maintenance facility. These facilities are located within the greater Detroit metropolitan area; however, the Lake Huron Water Treatment Plant is located in Fort Gratiot Township, north of Port Huron, Michigan.
The drinking water facilities all utilize a sedimentation and deep bed filtration process to treat and purify drinking water for the residents of their service areas. Disinfection of the treated water is accomplished by either chlorination or ozonation processes.
Facility | Location | Municipality | Date of Construction | Rated Capacity (MGD) | Max Pumping Capacity (MGD) | Finished Water Storage (MG) | Source Water | Service Area |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Waterworks Park Water Treatment Plant | 10100 East Jefferson Avenue | Detroit | 1879 Original 2003 Expanded | 240 | 560 | 28 | Detroit River | East Detroit/Wayne County |
Northeast Water Treatment Plant | 11036 East 8 Mile Road | Detroit | 1956 | 300 | 400 | 30 | Detroit River | Northeast Detroit/Wayne County, Southern Macomb County, Southeast Oakland County |
Springwells Water Treatment Plant | 8300 West Warren Avenue | Dearborn | 1930 First Train 1958 Second Train | 540 | 450 | 60 | Detroit River - Belle Isle Intake | Detroit and Northern Wayne County, Eastern Washtenaw County, Oakland County, Southeastern Macomb County |
Southwest Water Treatment Plant | 14700 Moran Road | Allen Park | 1964 | 240 | 310 | 30 | Detroit River | Southern Wayne County, Northern Monroe County, Eastern Washtenaw County |
Lake Huron Water Treatment Plant | 3993 Metcalf Road | Fort Gratiot | 1974 | 400 | 420 | 44 | Lake Huron | Genessee County, Lapeer County, St. Clair County, Monroe County, Oakland County |
Totals | 1,720 | 2,400 | 192 |
Facility Name | Address | Municipality | Function | Storage Capacity (MG) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Adams Road Pump Station | 6201 Adams Road | Bloomfield Hills | Booster Pump Station | |
Eastside Station | 18301 East Warren Ave | Detroit | Water Storage and Booster Pump Station | |
Electric Avenue Station | 1140 Montie Avenue | Lincoln Park | Water Storage and Booster Pump Station | |
Ford Road Station | 26015 Ford Road | Dearborn Heights | Water Storage and Booster Pump Station | |
Franklin Station | 7404 Inkster Road | West Bloomfield | Water Storage and Booster Pump Station | |
Haggerty Station | 39955 West 14 Mile Road | Novi | Water Storage and Booster Pump Station | 70 |
Imlay Pump Station | 430 Wheeling Road | Imlay City | Water Storage and Booster Pump Station | |
Joy Road Station | 43127 Joy Road | Canton Township | Water Storage and Booster Pump Station | |
Newburgh Station | 36363 West 8 Mile Road | Livonia | Booster Pump Station | |
North Service Center | 1850 East South Boulevard | Troy | Water Storage and Booster Pump Station | |
Northwest Station | 20440 James Couzens Freeway | Detroit | Water Storage and Booster Pump Station | |
Orion Station | 3655 Giddings Road | Auburn Hills | Booster Pump Station | |
Rochester Station | 2851 East 24 Mile Road | Shelby Township | Booster Pump Station | |
Schoolcraft Pump Station | 30365 Schoolcraft Road | Livonia | Water Storage and Booster Pump Station | |
West Chicago Street | 28720 West Chicago Street | Livonia | Water Storage and Booster Pump Station | |
West Service Center | 20920 East Street | Southfield | Water Storage and Booster Pump Station | |
Wick Pump Station | 32280 Wick Road | Romulus | Water Storage and Booster Pump Station | |
Ypsilanti Station | 361 Rawsonville Road | Van Buren Township | Booster Pump Station |
The Great Lakes Water Authority operates and maintains nine individual combined sewer overflow pollution prevention facilities located within the original combined sewer service area. These facilities were planned and constructed in the late 1990's through the early 2000's to contain and treat wet-weather wastewater flows which originated in the legacy combined sewer areas of the Detroit metro area. [13]
The City of Detroit was originally developed and as water and sewer services grew within the existing municipal boundary of the City, the sanitary sewer and stormwater sewers were built as a combined sewer system. Combined sewer systems were designed to convey both dry weather sanitary waste, and during wet weather events, carry the runoff generated from the surrounding homes, business, and impervious land uses. During wet weather, these historic outfalls would discharge raw sewage directly into the downstream receiving water bodies, such as the Rouge River and Detroit River. The Clean Water Act required the City of Detroit to address these raw sewage outfalls by constructing the CSO pollution control facilities to prevent untreated sewage from entering the local waterways.
Facility Name | Location | Function | Municipality | Downstream Receiving Waterbody | Coordinates |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Belle Isle CSO Retention and Treatment Basin | 1500 Belle Isle | Retention of Combined Sewerage | Detroit | Detroit River | 42°20′19.95″N82°59′51.35″W / 42.3388750°N 82.9975972°W |
Conner Creek CSO Retention and Treatment Basin | 11900 Freud Street | Retention of Combined Sewerage Screening of Floatables Disinfection of Overflow Effluent | Detroit | Detroit River | 42°21′45.15″N82°57′28.93″W / 42.3625417°N 82.9580361°W |
Leib CSO Screening and Disinfection Facility | 2198 Mt. Elliott Street | Screening of Floatables Disinfection of Overflow Effluent | Detroit | Detroit River | 42°21′14.93″N83°0′58.75″W / 42.3541472°N 83.0163194°W |
St. Aubin CSO Screening and Disinfection Facility | 2122 Atwater Street | Screening of Floatables Disinfection of Overflow Effluent | Detroit | Detroit River | 42°20′1.59″N83°1′21.56″W / 42.3337750°N 83.0226556°W |
Oakwood CSO Retention and Treatment Basin | 12082 Pleasant Avenue | Retention of Combined Sewerage Screening of Floatables | Detroit | Rouge River | 42°16′57.26″N83°8′37.14″W / 42.2825722°N 83.1436500°W |
Baby Creek CSO Retention and Treatment Basin | 9545 Dix Avenue | Retention of Combined Sewerage Screening of Floatables Disinfection of Overflow Effluent | Dearborn | Rouge River | 42°18′28.96″N83°8′26.79″W / 42.3080444°N 83.1407750°W |
Hubbell-Southfield CSO Retention and Treatment Basin | 16200 Rotunda Drive | Retention of Combined Sewerage Screening of Floatables | Dearborn | Rouge River | 42°18′29.43″N83°12′23.89″W / 42.3081750°N 83.2066361°W |
Puritan-Fenkell CSO Retention and Treatment Basin | 23675 Fenkell Avenue | Retention of Combined Sewerage | Detroit | Rouge River | 42°23′57.67″N83°16′19.07″W / 42.3993528°N 83.2719639°W |
Seven Mile CSO Retention and Treatment Basin | 19300 Shiawassee Drive | Retention of Combined Sewerage | Detroit | Rouge River | 42°25′53.95″N83°16′20.71″W / 42.4316528°N 83.2724194°W |
Facility Name | Location | Function | Municipality | Coordinates | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bluehill Pump Station | Mack Avenue | Combined Sewer Pumping Station on Detroit River Interceptor | Detroit | 42°23′46.77″N82°55′19.21″W / 42.3963250°N 82.9220028°W | |
Conner Creek Pump Station | Combined Sewer Pumping Station on Detroit River Interceptor | Detroit | |||
Freud Pump Station | 669 Tennessee Street | Combined Sewer Pumping Station | Detroit | 42°21′51.14″N82°57′24.95″W / 42.3642056°N 82.9569306°W | |
Fairview Pump Station | Combined Sewer Pumping Station on Detroit River Interceptor | Detroit | |||
Northeast Pump Station | 11000 East 8 Mile Road | Sewer Pumping Station | Detroit | 42°26′31.76″N83°0′47.96″W / 42.4421556°N 83.0133222°W | |
Woodmere Pump Station | Combined Sewer Pumping Station on Oakwood Interceptor | Detroit |
All of the wastewater collected from the Great Lakes Water Authority sewer service area is treated at one facility, the GLWA Water Resource Recovery Facility. The Water Resource Recovery Facility is located at 9300 W. Jefferson Avenue, and is the second largest single-site wastewater treatment facility in North America. The initial phase of the plant was completed in 1940, at a cost of $10 million. Today the facility is rated for a maximum wastewater treatment capacity of 1890 million gallons/day of wet-weather sewage treatment. The Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF) is classified as a wet-weather wastewater treatment facility, as it sees sewage flows fluctuate depending on rainfall depth over the sewer collection area. When the City of Detroit was originally sewered for wastewater collection, the system was designed to collect stormwater runoff in addition to household and industrial sanitary wastewater.
Two interceptors convey raw sewage to the Water Resource Recovery Facility. The Detroit River Interceptor (DRI) follows the Detroit River riverbank, and collects sewage from the eastern sewer service area, ultimately following Jefferson Boulevard and arriving at Pump Station No. 1 from the south. The Oakwood Interceptor conveys raw sewage from the western service area which comprises Dearborn and the western suburbs. The Oakwood Interceptor arrives at the WRRF from the north. Each interceptor was originally designed to ultimately land at Pump Station No. 1 when the WRRF was placed in service in 1940.
The original wastewater treatment works were further upgraded in 1953 and 1957, in which additional primary clarification was added to the process. Polymer and ferric chloride feed systems were added to the plant in 1970, including a new chlorine feed system. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (Clean Water Act) of 1972 drove the need add secondary treatment capacity to the facility, which included the construction of aeration tanks, secondary clarifiers, cryogenic oxygen plants and additional biosolids handling facilities at the plant.
The WRRF includes two medium-lift pump stations, fourteen primary clarifiers (circular and rectangular), four secondary aeration basins, thirty secondary clarifiers, twenty-two sludge dewatering belt filter presses, eight multiple-hearth furnace incinerators, and a chlorination/dechlorination facility for managing the disinfection and subsequent residual chlorine removal of the final treated effluent. [14]
Process Component | Process Description | Equipment | Downstream Liquid Process | Downstream Solids Process |
---|---|---|---|---|
Pump Station No. 1 | Lifts raw sewage from the Detroit River Interceptor and the Oakwood Interceptor Removes floatable trash Removes non-organic sediments, grit, and gravel Application of Ferric Chloride for improved settling Houses eight Medium Lift Pumps | Eight Flowserve Medium Lift Pumps rated for 135 to 230 MGD | Bar Screens and Grit Chamber Primary Clarifiers | |
Pump Station No. 2 | Lifts raw sewage from the Oakwood Interceptor Removes floatable trash Removes non-organic sediments, grit, and gravel Houses eight Medium Lift Pumps | Eight Flowserve Medium Lift Pumps rated at 95 MGD | Bar Screens and Grit Chamber Primary Clarifiers | |
Primary Clarification | Removes primary organic wastewater particles via gravity settling Basins are both circular and rectangular basin configurations | Six Evoqua 180 MGD Circular Primary Clarifiers Twelve Chain-and-Flight Rectangular Clarifiers | Aeration Basins | Biosolids Dewatering |
Aeration Basin | Biological nutrient removal process which is used to remove nitrogen, phosphorus, and additional organic materials which did not settle during primary treatment Utilizes surface mixers and liquid oxygen diffusers to encourage bacterial consumption of organic fraction of sewage | Four 310 MGD Activated Sludge Aeration Basins | Secondary Clarifiers | |
Secondary Clarifiers | Removes waste-activated sludge particles via gravity settling Recycles waste activated sludge to upstream end of aeration basins | Twenty five Secondary Clarifiers rated for 40 MGD each | Chlorine Contact Conduits | Biosolids Dewatering |
Chlorination | Produces chlorinated solution water for the disinfection of secondary treated effluent. Chlorine gas is introduced into potable process water to generate hypochlorous acid | Ten chlorine gas feeders capable of 8,000 lb/day | Detroit River/Rouge River | |
Dechlorination | Produces sulfonated solution water for the removal of chlorine residuals in final disinfected effluent | Eight sulfur dioxide gas feeders capable of 7,600 lb/day | Detroit River/Rouge River | |
Dewatering | Twelve Ashbrook Belt Filter Presses | Ten Komline-Sanderson Belt Filter Presses Twelve Ashbrook Belt Filter Presses | Oakwood Interceptor | |
Incineration | Multiple heart furnaces incinerate dewatered wastewater sludge cake Flue gases are scrubbed and desulfurized prior to atmospheric discharge | Eight Nichols-Hereschoff Multiple Hearth Furnaces | Oakwood Interceptor | |
Biosolids Drying Facility | Four train drum drying facility which produces a pelletized fertilizer product which is wholesale distributed. This process is operated by the New England Fertilizer Company (NEFCO). | Four drum dryers with capacity of 421 dry tons/day | Detroit River Interceptor for centrifuge centrate |
The WRRF relies on a liquid oxygen generation system to produce the oxygen necessary for the activated sludge aeration process used to manage the biological nutrient removal process.
On the early morning of March 4, 2016 a two-alarm fire broke out in the Incineration facility at the Great Lakes Water Authority Water Resource Recovery Facility. The fire event significantly damaged belt conveyors which are used to feed dewatered process biosolids into the eight operational incinerators located within the main superstructure of the building. The resulting fire damaged nine large belt conveyors, and resulted in roughly $40 million in overall damage to the facility. [15] The fire was investigated by outside engineering consultants, citing excessive sludge debris buildup, lack of maintenance, and poor operational practices as being the cause of the catastrophic fire. [16]
Heavy rainfall events which occurred during the weekend of June 28, 2021 partially disabled the Conner Creek Pump Station and Freud Pump Stations which serve the eastside sewer service area. Both pump stations are located near the GLWA Conner Creek CSO facility. Ongoing investigations by an outside consultant are being completed to determine the exact cause of sewage pumping capacity which led to thousands of basements in the Grosse Pointe area being flooded with sewage. [17]
On August 21, 2022, a break occurred on an existing 120-inch diameter water transmission immediately downstream of the Lake Huron Water Treatment Plant which is located in Fort Gratiot Township. The break resulted in a Boil Water Advisory which affected 23 communities across the service downstream which was served by the 120-inch watermain. The existing main was a concrete precast transmission line. [18] Repairs to the main were completed on September 6, 2022. GLWA indicated that due to the size of the main, full operational capacity of the transmission line would not be restored until September 21, 2022.
On January 26, 2024, a break occurred on an existing 30-inch diameter water transmission main on Baseline Road, resulting in loss of roadway between Novi Street and Oakland Avenue in Northville, Michigan. [19] Several homes near the break experienced flooding, with local customers being asked to reduce water consumption while the break is repaired.
A sanitary sewer is an underground pipe or tunnel system for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to a sewage treatment plant or disposal. Sanitary sewers are a type of gravity sewer and are part of an overall system called a "sewage system" or sewerage. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas may also carry industrial wastewater. In municipalities served by sanitary sewers, separate storm drains may convey surface runoff directly to surface waters. An advantage of sanitary sewer systems is that they avoid combined sewer overflows. Sanitary sewers are typically much smaller in diameter than combined sewers which also transport urban runoff. Backups of raw sewage can occur if excessive stormwater inflow or groundwater infiltration occurs due to leaking joints, defective pipes etc. in aging infrastructure.
The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) is a public authority in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that provides wholesale drinking water and sewage services to 3.1 million people in sixty-one municipalities and more than 5,500 large industrial users in the eastern and central parts of the state, primarily in the Boston area.
The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) is a regional government agency that provides water reclamation and flood management services for about 1.1 million people in 28 communities in the Greater Milwaukee Area. A recipient of the U.S. Water Prize and many other awards, the District has a record of 98.4 percent, since 1994, for capturing and cleaning wastewater from 28 communities in a 411-square-mile (1,060 km2) area. The national goal is 85 percent of all the rain and wastewater that enters their sewer systems.
Toronto Water is the municipal division of the City of Toronto under Infrastructure and Development Services responsible for the water supply network, and stormwater and wastewater management in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, as well as parts of Peel and York Regions.
The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority(DC Water) provides drinking water, sewage collection, and sewage treatment for Washington, D.C. The utility also provides wholesale wastewater treatment services to several adjoining municipalities in Maryland and Virginia, and maintains more than 9,000 public fire hydrants in Washington, D.C.
A combined sewer is a type of gravity sewer with a system of pipes, tunnels, pump stations etc. to transport sewage and urban runoff together to a sewage treatment plant or disposal site. This means that during rain events, the sewage gets diluted, resulting in higher flowrates at the treatment site. Uncontaminated stormwater simply dilutes sewage, but runoff may dissolve or suspend virtually anything it contacts on roofs, streets, and storage yards. As rainfall travels over roofs and the ground, it may pick up various contaminants including soil particles and other sediment, heavy metals, organic compounds, animal waste, and oil and grease. Combined sewers may also receive dry weather drainage from landscape irrigation, construction dewatering, and washing buildings and sidewalks.
The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD), originally known as the Sanitary District of Chicago, is a special-purpose district chartered to operate in Cook County, Illinois since 1889. Although its name may imply otherwise, it is not a part of the City of Chicago's local government but is created by Illinois state government with an elected Board of Commissioners. The MWRD's main purposes are the reclamation and treatment of wastewater and flood water abatement in Cook County to protect the health and safety of citizens and of area waterways. In 1900, the District notably reversed the flow of the Chicago River, and it is currently involved in the large multi-decade construction of the "Deep Tunnel", Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP).
The Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) is the public transit operator serving the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, United States. Beginning operations in 1967 as the Southeastern Michigan Transportation Authority (SEMTA), the agency was reorganized and renamed SMART in 1989. SMART operates 44 bus routes, plus paratransit and microtransit services.
Sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) is a condition in which untreated sewage is discharged from a sanitary sewer into the environment prior to reaching sewage treatment facilities. When caused by rainfall it is also known as wet weather overflow. Causes of sanitary sewer overflows include: Blockage of sewer lines, infiltration/Inflow of excessive stormwater into sewer lines during heavy rainfall, malfunction of pumping station lifts or electrical power failure, broken sewer lines. Prevention of such overflow events involves regular maintenance and timely upgrades of infrastructure.
Dallas Water Utilities (DWU) is the water and wastewater service operated by the City of Dallas, Texas, in the United States. DWU is a non-profit City of Dallas department that provides services to the city and 31 nearby communities, employs approximately 1450 people, and consists of 26 programs. DWU's budget is completely funded through the rates charged for water and wastewater services provided to customers. Rates are based on the cost of providing the services. The department does not receive any tax revenues. Primary authority and rules for the department are listed in Chapter 49Archived 2006-10-04 at the Wayback Machine of the Dallas City Code.
Clean Water Services is the water resources management utility for more than 600,000 residents in urban Washington County, Oregon and small portions of Multnomah County, Oregon and Clackamas County, Oregon, in the United States. Clean Water Services operates four wastewater treatment facilities, constructs and maintains flood management and water quality projects, and manages flow into the Tualatin River to improve water quality and protect fish habitat. They are headquartered in Hillsboro.
The Ashbridges Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant is the city of Toronto's main sewage treatment facility, and the second largest such plant in Canada after Montreal's Jean-R. Marcotte facility. One of four plants that service the city of Toronto, it treats the wastewater produced by some 1.4 million of the city's residents and has a rated capacity of 818,000 cubic metres per day. Until 1999 it was officially known as the Main Treatment Plant. The plant has a 185 m (607 ft) high smokestack which is visible from most parts of the city.
Sewage treatment is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable to discharge to the surrounding environment or an intended reuse application, thereby preventing water pollution from raw sewage discharges. Sewage contains wastewater from households and businesses and possibly pre-treated industrial wastewater. There are a high number of sewage treatment processes to choose from. These can range from decentralized systems to large centralized systems involving a network of pipes and pump stations which convey the sewage to a treatment plant. For cities that have a combined sewer, the sewers will also carry urban runoff (stormwater) to the sewage treatment plant. Sewage treatment often involves two main stages, called primary and secondary treatment, while advanced treatment also incorporates a tertiary treatment stage with polishing processes and nutrient removal. Secondary treatment can reduce organic matter from sewage, using aerobic or anaerobic biological processes. A so-called quarternary treatment step can also be added for the removal of organic micropollutants, such as pharmaceuticals. This has been implemented in full-scale for example in Sweden.
The Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority is a public water system and non-profit corporation which handles water and wastewater operations for many areas in Beaufort and Jasper counties in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina. The Authority was created under the provisions of Act 784 by the South Carolina General Assembly in 1954 to provide services to Beaufort County. In 1969, its powers were expanded to include wastewater facility construction and services. In 1983, the authority merged with the Jasper County Water and Sewer Authority and thus adopting the BJWSA moniker.
Effluent sewer systems, also called septic tank effluent gravity (STEG), solids-free sewer (SFS), or septic tank effluent drainage (STED) systems, have septic tanks that collect sewage from residences and businesses, and the liquid fraction of sewage that comes out of the tank is conveyed to a downstream receiving body such as either a centralized sewage treatment plant or a distributed treatment system for further treatment or disposal away from the community generating the sewage. Most of the solids are removed by the interceptor tanks, so the treatment plant can be much smaller than a typical plant and any pumping for the supernatant can be simpler without grinders.
Water supply and sanitation in Japan is characterized by numerous achievements and some challenges. The country has achieved universal access to water supply and sanitation; has one of the lowest levels of water distribution losses in the world; regularly exceeds its own strict standards for the quality of drinking water and treated waste water; uses an effective national system of performance benchmarking for water and sanitation utilities; makes extensive use of both advanced and appropriate technologies such as the jōkasō on-site sanitation system; and has pioneered the payment for ecosystem services before the term was even coined internationally. Some of the challenges are a decreasing population, declining investment, fiscal constraints, ageing facilities, an ageing workforce, a fragmentation of service provision among thousands of municipal utilities, and the vulnerability of parts of the country to droughts that are expected to become more frequent due to climate change.
Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, known shortly as CMWSSB, is a statutory board of Government of Tamil Nadu which provides water supply and sewage treatment to the city of Chennai and its metropolitan region.
The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) is a public utility that provides water and sewerage services for Detroit, Michigan and owns the assets that provide water and sewerage services to 126 other communities in seven counties. It is one of the largest water and sewer systems in the United States. In 2000, the utility utilized five water treatment plants using water from the Detroit River and Lake Huron. In mid 2014, the DWSD had acquired significant debt and delinquent accounts, and talks of privatization were occurring. As of January 1, 2016, under the terms of the City of Detroit's municipal bankruptcy the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) was created with a $50 million annual lease agreement to the City of Detroit for 40 years, while the DWSD bifurcated to focus its services specifically on the water and sewer customers within only the city of Detroit.
Karegnondi Water Authority (KWA) is a municipal corporation responsible for distributing water services in the Mid-Michigan and Thumb areas of the U.S. state of Michigan. Members of the authority are the cities of Flint and Lapeer, and the counties of Genesee, Lapeer and Sanilac. Karegnondi is a word from the Petan Indian language meaning "lake" and another early name for Lake Huron.
The Sacramento Department of Utilities is a public utility that serves the City of Sacramento. It maintains and provides water to Sacramento residents, manages the sewage and provides storm water drainage services. Initially known as Sacramento City Water Works, the department was founded in 1873. The Department of Utilities is overseen by the Utilities Director and has four main divisions: Water Operations & Maintenance, Wastewater/Drainage Operations & Maintenance, Business & Integrated Planning, and Engineering & Water Resources. Revenue is generated primarily from charging for water, sewage and drainage services and the department's spending budget for the 2019-2020 fiscal year was around 148 million dollars.