Industrial Pretreatment

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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.