STATE PRETREATMENT PROGRAMS

           The Department’s Pretreatment personnel help interpret Pretreatment regulations, offer guidance and recommendations to cities and industries alike how to maintain compliance with the National Pretreatment Regulations. Recommendations and guidance are offered to both entities regarding Pollution Prevention and Environmental Management activities to further evolve in achieving objectives of the Clean Water Act in reducing and/or eliminating discharge of toxic pollutants to waters of the U.S.

         ADEQ was delegated the NPDES/Pretreatment Program in 1986 and serves as the "Approval Authority" in conducting compliance assurance audits and Pollution Prevention Assessments every five (5) years and/or annual inspections at all Pretreatment related facilities statewide. Annual reports from the Pretreatment cities are reviewed. Pertinent influent/effluent data is entered in an in-house Excel database and Pretreatment Industry information/compliance is presently being tracked and available on-line. 

             Currently there are twenty-four (24) required/approved Pretreatment Programs (cities) in the State which regulate via permits approximately three hundred (300) significant indirect discharging industries. These 24 approved cities are required to implement procedures and enforce the National Pretreatment Regulations located in 40 CFR 403.

             There are additional "non-pretreatment" (not required to implement procedures) cities in the state with another thirty (30) categorical indirect discharging industries. These 30 industries are required to meet the minimum sampling/reporting requirements located in 40 CFR 403.12. ADEQ Pretreatment personnel serve as the "control authority" in these cases.

* postmaster@regionvipretreatmentassociation.org  * P.O. Box  94737, North Little Rock, AR 72190-4737 *

             Industrial Pretreatment addresses the protection of Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) facilities from industrial process wastewater discharges that can upset, inhibit or pass through the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP).

             WWTPs are designed to treat only domestic wastewater (e.g., from household bathrooms and kitchens). Industrial wastewater can reduce a WWTP's effectiveness to the point that the POTW can no longer meet its permit limits which are in place to protect water quality standards.

             In Oklahoma, industries are regulated by the DEQ Industrial Pretreatment Program in one of two ways. Some are regulated by the local municipality through a State-approved Pretreatment Program. Others are regulated by an Indirect Discharge Permit in cases where the municipality does not have a State-approved Pretreatment Program or is not required to develop one.

             Those industries not regulated under a municipality's State-approved Pretreatment Program are regulated under the umbrella of the State Pretreatment Program operated by DEQ.

             The Pretreatment Program  is part of the Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (TPDES) program to control the pollutants discharged into sewer systems and to reduce the amount of pollutants released into the environment. 

             Wastewater from homes, commercial buildings, and industrial facilities is collected and transported through a series of pipes—that is, a collection system—to wastewater treatment plants. These plants remove harmful organisms and contaminants from the wastewater before discharge into the receiving creek, river, or lake.

             Most POTWs are designed to treat sanitary (domestic) wastes from households, but not to treat toxic pollutants from industrial or commercial facilities. The toxic pollutants from industrial and commercial facilities may cause serious problems at POTWs. Problems may be prevented by recycling, waste minimization, chemical substitution, pretreatment, or other best management practices to reduce or eliminate the pollutants from commercial or industrial facilities.

             The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed the General Pretreatment Regulations under 40 CFR Part 403 to set responsibilities for federal, state, and local government, industry, and the public to achieve the National Pretreatment Program objectives. The EPA describes this national program in its "Introduction to the National Pretreatment Program."