How Is Wastewater Treated (PDF)
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FOLD FOLD FOLD We Need Your Help Industrial Service Area How is Pretreatment Here are three easy things you can do to protect The City of Everett’s wastewater treatment Wastewater water quality and minimize treatment cost. plant, called the Everett Water Pollution Control unicipal treatment plants like the EWPCF are Facility (EWPCF), is located on Smith Island 1. Keep trash out of the system. designed to treat residential and commercial in North Everett. The EWPCF serves more than Treated? ■ M Put hair, feminine hygiene products, wastewater. However, some industrial 133,000 people including all of Everett and cotton swabs and grease in the wastewater contains pollutants that primary and parts of Mukilteo, Silver Lake and Alderwood. garbage. secondary treatment cannot remove. The plant treats an average of 20 million 2. Reduce your water consumption. This wastewater requires industrial pretreatment gallons of wastewater per day, although the ■ Conserving water saves money and to remove metals, acids or other chemicals, influent volume to the plant can increase to protects the environment since the less or in the case of food services, most fats almost 100 million gallons on rainy days. water you use, the less wastewater we and grease. City staff work with industrial have to treat. customers to remove these pollutants before the 3. Keep hazardous waste out of the system. wastewater is sent to the treatment plant. ■ Never put hazardous waste down the drain. Hazardous waste includes pesticides, herbicides, solvents, paint thinners and engine oil. Hazardous Biosolids waste is any material that can catch fire, Port explode, corrode or is toxic. Biosolids are treated organic by-products of the Gardner Bay Contact the Snohomish County Household treatment process. They are settled solids and Hazardous Waste Drop-Off Station at dead microorganisms that digest and stabilize 425-388-6050 for disposal locations and for up to two years in the aeration ponds. They information. are then dredged and dewatered for use mainly on farm and forest lands. Biosolids may be Contact Us treated further, with composting for example, to produce Class A Biosolids, the highest quality If you have questions, please contact us at: biosolids product approved for the widest range of uses. City of Everett Public Works Department 3200 Cedar Street Biosolids are used as a soil amendment Everett WA 98201 since they are rich in nutrients and increase 425-257-8800 the ability of soil to retain water. Here in email: [email protected] Washington, biosolids are used to grow wheat, web: www.ci.everett.wa.us/pw apples, pasture grasses, trees and other crops. Everett Water Pollution Control Facility Biosolids are also used in soil revegetation and City of Everett Water Pollution Control Facility stabilization projects. Contact us for biosolids 425-257-8220 product availability or more information at 425-257-8220. REVISED JUNE 2009 Brought to you by the City of Everett. FOLD FOLD FOLD POND SYSTEM MECHANICAL PLANT SYSTEM 1. Aeration Ponds: Microorganisms living 1. Biological Trickling Filter: Microorganisms Treatment in the ponds consume pollutants and grow on plastic media designed to Where Does eventually die. They settle to the provide surface area and air flow. These odern wastewater treatment uses the same bottom of the ponds along with settled microorganisms consume pollutants as the Wastewater Mprocess as nature, but treatment plants speed solids and are dredged every two years wastewater trickles down this plastic media. Come From? up the process. The process has two main steps: and recycled into biosolids. As they grow and get full, they wash out of primary treatment and secondary treatment. 2. Oxidation Pond: This pond allows for the tower into the aeration tank. astewater comes from many sources including further biological activity and settling. 2. Aeration Tank: Microorganisms continue homes, businesses, industry and stormwater feeding on pollutants in this tank. W 3. Polishing Pond: This pond provides even runoff. Wastewater is 99 percent water and 1 Primary Treatment at Blowers inject oxygen to help keep the more biological treatment. percent solid and dissolved materials that are poured microorganisms as active as possible. Everett’s Plant 4. Chlorine Contact Channel: Chlorine or flushed down the drain. The wastewater enters is added to kill any remaining disease 3. Secondary Clarifiers: Slow moving water a network of more than 300 miles of underground Primary treatment at the Everett Water Pollution causing microorganisms. The water is allows the microorganisms and solids sewer pipes that lead to the treatment plant. Control Facility (EWPCF) includes the following then dechlorinated so that chlorine is to settle to the bottom of these tanks. Not all drains lead to the treatment plant. steps. Most of these steps take place at a not released into the Snohomish River. Most of the microorganisms are recycled facility called the headworks, which is the first back to the aeration tank. Some of the The City of Everett is divided into a Combined 5. Snohomish River: Treated wastewater, microorganisms are sent back to the Sewer Area and a Separated Sewer Area. stop for wastewater entering the plant. called effluent, is discharged to the aeration ponds. 1. Bar Screens: Large bar screens remove Snohomish River. trash, sticks and leaves. 4. Chlorine Contact Channel: Chlorine is In the added to disinfect any remaining disease Combined Homes 2. Grit Collectors: Large sand and gravel causing microorganisms. The water is then Sewer Area, S n settles out in the grit collector tank and dechlorinated so chlorine is not released wastewater o h o Businesses m is sent to a landfill. into the bay. and i WASTEWATER s stormwater TREATMENT h PLANT R 5. Port Gardner Bay: Treated wastewater, i 3. Primary Sedimentation Tank: Small v are e called effluent, is discharged through a PRE- r particles settle out here and grease and combined Industry TREATMENT fat are skimmed off the top of the water. series of underground pipes to a deep- in the same water outfall on Port Gardner Bay. Treated pipe, called Water Gets Treated 4. Biofilters: These filters contain wood Storm Drains effluent may also be reused as non-contact a combined chips and compost and filter the air cooling water at the Kimberly Clark Corp. sewer, and flow to the treatment plant. to reduce the odor released from the before discharge to Port Gardner Bay. wastewater. Primary In the Homes Sedimentation Secondary Treatment at Tanks Separated Headworks Biofilter , S Sewer Area n Aeration o Everett’s Plant h Businesses o Pond wastewater m i WASTEWATER s Biofilter South Chlorine h 4 goes in a TREATMENT The EWPCF has two parallel systems for secondary Contact Channel PLANT R i v sanitary e treatment: a pond system and a mechanical plant. PRE- r Industry The two systems perform identical functions, but sewer and is TREATMENT Secondary 5 3 routed to the the treatment process is different in each system. Outfall to Port Clarifiers Gardner Bay treatment Wastewater is treated in the mechanical plant using 1 Trickling No Treatment Filters plant. Storm Drains a process called Trickling Filter Solids Contact. This Snohomish River 2 Aeration Stormwater process takes up much less space and is much faster Tank than the original pond system. The mechanical goes in a storm drain and is discharged directly plant can clean wastewater in a matter of hours, Biofilter to local streams without treatment. while it takes several weeks in the pond system..