Water Pollution Control Facility - Ottumwa's Wastewater Treatment Plant
Ottumwa operates a state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plant. The community of Otttumwa generates an average 6 million gallons of wastewater each day. This wastewater must be treated before sending it back to the Des Moines River. When wastewater arrives at the Water Pollution Control Facility through the sewer system, it is first screened to remove any grit and other solids that are in it. The wastewater then goes through a process of aeration and digestion, utilizing active bacteria or "bugs" to consume the harmful elements. The wastewater is then sent through a filtration and disinfection system. Finally, the treated and purified water is returned to the Des Moines River. The leftover solid material or "sludge" that is removed from the water is applied to agricultual land as a fertilizer.
The Vertical Loop Reactors - part of the biological process at the plant.
In addition to running the WPCF we operate and/or maintain 20 Sanitary Sewage Pump Stations, 9 Storm Water Pump Stations, 11 Combined Sewer Overflows and Multiple River and Levee Control Gates
Ottumwa's Wastewater Facility Design Parameters:
Hydraulic (Wastewater Coming into the Plant)
Average Flow 6.0 Million Gallons Per Day
Maximum Flow 12.5 Million Gallons Per Day
Organic (Byproducts of the Treatment Process)
C-BOD 9,900 lbs Per Day Average
Carbonaceous Biochemical Oxygen Demand 13,150 lbs Per Day Peak
Total Suspended Solids 10,000 lbs Per Day Average
(known as TSS) 15,000 lbs Per Day Peak
Ammonia 1,160 lbs Per Day Average
1,450 lbs Per Day Peak
Our state of the art laboratory runs many different tests every day to ensure water quality.
Contact Information:
Water Pollution Control Facility
2222 South Emma Street
Ottumwa, Iowa 52501
641-683-0641
Robert Bruett, Superintendent
Operations
Kam Reeves, Operations Supervisor
Maintenance
Jessie Merrill, Maintenance Foreman
Laboratory
Pat Davis, Laboratory Supervisor