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FINAL TREATMENT
Water next flows (by gravity) to 2 Reaeration Tanks, which, combined, have a capacity of 90,000 gallons and a design detention time of 1 hour. Here, if the dissolved oxygen level in the water is not at 7 mg/L, mixers can be turned on to put air into the water.
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Reaeration Tanks ---------------------------- Chlorine Contact Tanks
From June 1st through October 15th our Permit requires us to disinfect the water prior to discharge from the Plant. Although the settling and biological processes which the wastewater has gone through in the Treatment Plant remove a great number of organisms, there remain many thousands of bacteria. Some of these are harmful to humans. We disinfect the water in the 2 Chlorine Contact Tanks (total capacity of 50,000 gallons) where a chlorine containing solution similar to household bleach is added to the water using a mixer system. The water then travels through a maze built into the tanks which allows a 30 minute detention time and is ready to leave the Plant.
Okay, have you been keeping track of how many gallons the plant can hold? I gave you some help earlier! From the start of the Plant to the end, the Plant can hold a total of 4 million, seven hundred, and ninety thousand gallons of water! The Plant is rated as a 4.1 million gallon Plant! The typical flow is 2.2 million gallons per day. That means each and every day, about 2 million, two hundred thousand gallons of water enter, are treated, and leave this Plant.
The clean and disinfected water drops into a 36" pipe which runs from the end of the Plant underneath Jones & Gifford Ave. and out into the outlet end of Lake Chautauqua. It meets and exceeds our NPDES Permit requirements for discharge, returning clean water to the environment. Each of our Operators run the Plant with the objective of providing the best possible treatment of wastes to protect the receiving water, downstream users, and neighbors, while minimizing costs, minimizing energy consumption, and by maintaining an effective preventive maintenance program.