Does an overall excellent compliance record mean that no permit limitations have been exceeded?
Wastewater treatment plant operations are a combination of mechanical and biological processes. The treatment plant has experienced episodic upsets of its treatment process. First, its important to remember that the technology currently being designed and installed at the treatment plant is being done for two reasons: capacity and reliable permit compliance. The City recognized many years ago that these improvements had to be made to meet both those goals. In the meantime, treatment plant staff works diligently to insure compliance while these improvements are being constructed around them. At the center of the treatment process is the cultivation of biological life. Not unlike any other biological process, if conditions occur that upset the normal operation of that process, effluent quality will deteriorate for a period of time. There are many variables being watched and monitored, and upsets of this kind that lead to treatment plant permit excursions are rare. Mechanical failures als
