Contaminant removal by wastewater treatment plants in the Stillaguamish River Basin, Washington
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Abstract
Human activities in most areas of the developed world typically release nutrients, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, pesticides, and other contaminants into the environment, many of which reach freshwater ecosystems. In urbanized areas, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are critical facilities for collecting and reducing the amounts of wastewater contaminants (WWCs) that ultimately discharge to rivers, coastal areas, and groundwater. Most WWTPs use multiple methods to remove contaminants from wastewater. These include physical methods to remove solid materials (primary treatment), biological and chemical methods to remove most organic matter (secondary treatment), advanced methods to reduce the concentrations of various contaminants such as nitrogen, phosphorus and (or) synthetic organic compounds (tertiary treatment), and disinfection prior to discharge (Metcalf and Eddy, Inc., 1979). This study examined the extent to which 114 organic WWCs were removed by each of three WWTPs, prior to discharge to freshwater and marine ecosystems, in a rapidly developing area in northwestern Washington State. Removal percentages for each WWC were estimated by comparing the concentrations measured in the WWTP influents with those measured in the effluents. The investigation was carried out in the 700-mi2Stillaguamish River Basin, the fifth largest watershed that discharges to Puget Sound (fig. 1).
Study Area
| Publication type | Report |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
| Title | Contaminant removal by wastewater treatment plants in the Stillaguamish River Basin, Washington |
| Series title | Fact Sheet |
| Series number | 2015-3023 |
| DOI | 10.3133/fs20153023 |
| Year Published | 2015 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | U.S. Geological Survey |
| Publisher location | Reston, VA |
| Contributing office(s) | Washington Water Science Center |
| Description | 4 p. |
| Country | United States |
| State | Washington |
| Other Geospatial | Stillaguamish River Basin |
| Datum | North American Datum of 1983 |
| Projection | Transverse Mercator projection, UTM Zone 10 |
| Online Only (Y/N) | Y |
| Additional Online Files (Y/N) | N |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |