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In the fall of 1997, the City of Mesa was issued a National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
Permit that enabled the discharge of treated wastewater into the Salt River. This permit issued by the United States Environmental Protection
Agency,
places various requirements on the City of Mesa. One of these requirements is
the establishment of a Pretreatment Program. The Industrial Pretreatment Section
(IPS) fulfills this requirement. The main purpose of the IPS is to ensure that the
wastewater treatment plant is protected from discharges that could
"bypass" or "pass through" the plant, and affect the water quality of a
"normally flowing" Salt River.
In addition to the NPDES
Permit, the Arizona Department of
Environmental Quality has issued an Aquifer Protection Permit (APP) to Mesa. An
APP regulates the discharges from the wastewater treatment
plant, and ensures that Mesa is in compliance with Water Quality Standards.
As mandated by these permits, IPS must monitor and regulate
the "process wastewater" discharges of any non-domestic user connected
to Mesa's wastewater collection system. IPS accomplished the mandate by
issuing "discharge" permits to facilities that meet pre-determined
criteria. This criteria is defined in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title
40, Part 403, and
Mesa City Code Title 8, Chapter 4.
IPS strives to build productive
partnerships with industry and the community. IPS has
set a goal to achieve compliance through education
rather than over-regulation. A major component of
these partnerships is pollution prevention. Pollution
prevention provides opportunities to industries in
methods to re-use or eliminate pollutants that may be
discharged into the environment. IPS has
developed a partnership with the Arizona Department of
Environmental Quality, Pollution
Prevention Unit.
If you have questions that are not answered at this
site, please contact the
Industrial Pretreatment
Office.
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