The Sewage Treatment Process
The Primary Treatment Process
The final settling tanks at the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant
Wastewater entering the plant is called influent. When this water is introduced to the collection system it can contain myriad of debris, including rags, plastics—anything that is flushed down a toilet. During the initial process of treatment this material is screened out so as not to damage equipment or be discharged into the environment.
Wastewater is then sent for grit removal which continues to remove debris and also begins the separating of solid waste from the wastewater.
The water is then sent to the primary settling tanks which continues the process of separating solids. Here, the sludge (the organic portion of the sewage) settles out of the wastewater and is pumped out of the tanks. Some of the water is removed in a step called thickening and then the sludge is processed in large tanks called digesters. This is where the biological process of sewage treatment begins. Using heat and other processes the waste truly begins to break down in the digesters.
The sewage treatment process relies on the use of microorganisms which are bred to, in essence, “eat” the waste.
After digesters wastewater then resides in aeration tanks. These tanks aerate the wastewater, keeping the valuable bacteria alive.
The now treated wastewater is then sent to the final settling tanks. At this point any solids remaining are removed. These solids are dispatched to a dewatering facility. The dewatered sludge is removed from the plant by truck and sent to a location off Long Island.
Chlorine is introduced in the process to help kill off the bacteria before discharge. The treated wastewater then leaves the plant and is sent to the discharge locations.
For the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant this location is Reynolds Channel, approximately two miles south of the plant. For the Cedar Creek Water Pollution Control Plant the effluent is discharged from an outfall in the Atlantic Ocean.
Collection Areas in Nassau County
