PRETREATMENT PROGRAM
Arlington has an EPA-approved Industrial Pretreatment Program, which administers local, state, and federal regulations affecting area businesses and the quality of the wastewater discharged into the Town’s system. This program is designed to reduce the level of potentially toxic pollutants discharged by industry and other non-domestic wastewater sources into the Town of Arlington sewer system, and thereby, reduce the amount of pollutants released into the environment from these sources.
Permitting: The Town of Arlington controls those sources of non-domestic discharges through permitting. If you are an Industrial user within Arlington, please contact the Wastewater Department at 901-867-1782 for information about obtaining Industrial Permits.
“Significant Users,” identified as non-domestic sewage dischargers that have the potential to affect wastewater operations, are required to install, operate, and adequately maintain pretreatment systems to remove pollutants that could otherwise damage or obstruct the wastewater collection system or interfere with the wastewater treatment process. Examples of such pollutants include heavy metals, cyanide, oil and grease, toxic organics, and acidic or caustic waste from industrial operations.
Major components of the Town’s Industrial Pretreatment Program include:
- locating industrial users and identifying pollutants they discharge;
- notifying industrial users of applicable standards and requirements related to pretreatment;
- issuing wastewater discharge permits;
- performing sample collection and site inspections;
- reviewing and monitoring permittee self-monitoring reports;
- investigating instances of noncompliance with pretreatment standards and requirements;
- providing annual public notification of industrial users that have significantly violated applicable pretreatment standards and requirements;
- developing and enforcing local limits to control the discharge of pollutants by industrial users into treatment plants; and
- initiating enforcement activities when appropriate.
Additionally, the program oversees a fats, oils, and grease (FOG) program, which prevents commercial food preparation users from discharging grease into the sewer system. The Wastewater Department is currently working in conjunction with Brown and Caldwell, an environmental engineering firm, on this program and the FOG program.