(POTW) is known as publicly owner treatment works and they help in collection of wastewater from homes, industrial facilities and commercial buildings, all this water that gets collected is transported using a series of pipes and they all go to a treatment plan. The idea is to basically treat the waste water and remove the harmful organisms and contaminated particles, so that it can be easily discharged in running stream water.
The EPA office works with a three way strategy to help with waste water management; they have three different standards which are Prohibited Discharge, Categorical Pretreatment and Local Limit. The Prohibited discharge standard restricts any pollutants (specific) from getting discharged and has announced the limits for the discharge.
The categorical pretreatment standards mention and apply a category to the kind of industrial waste that can be discharged for pretreatment. The standards in system are based on the section 307 of the clean water act, and all these standards as discussed are mentioned in Effluent Guidelines & Limitations [Parts 405-471].
On the other hand the local limits create the boundary which is required to protect POTW, there are various limitations and practices in order to ensure a standard procedure for sludge and disposal practices. The regulation 40 CFR 403.8(f)(4) invited local limits from POTW and 40 CFR 403.5(c) required the local limitations when the pollutants are received.
The entire role of POTW is to work on waste water management and ensure maximum allowable loading, implement local limits and raise concerns on polluting levels.
Works Cited
EPA Government. (2004). Local Limits Development Guidance. United States Environmental Protection Agency.
EPA. (2011, Jan 04). Pretreatment Program. Retrieved May 29, 2011, from http://cfpub.epa.gov: http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=3
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) . (2011, January 05). Pretreatment Standards & Limits. Retrieved May 29, 2011, from http://cfpub.epa.gov: http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/pretreatment/pstandards.cfm#categorical
