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Standard Waste: septage, holding tank, portable toilet, and municipal sludge

Non-Standard Waste: landfill leachate, wash waters and condensates, industrial sludge and wastewater, miscellaneous waste, and industrial holding tank

Processing and disposal of sludge is one of the most serious problem encountered in wastewater treatment in terms of environment, technology and budget. Sludge stabilization and associated cost represents a major part of the total cost in any wastewater treatment plant, it can account for 50-60% of the total expense of wastewater treatment plant operating budget. Sludge arising during treatment of municipal wastewater presents a valuable source of organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and some trace elements. Wastewater treatment plants’ optimum solution for disposal of sludge is in agriculture.

MAWSA is committed to the environment and uses land application for its sludge disposal. The Authority operates under PA DEP NPDES permit for disposal of Class “B “sludge.

The goal is to reduce or remove organic matter, solids, nutrients, disease-causing organisms and other pollutants from wastewater. Each receiving body of water has limits to the amount of pollutants it can receive without degradation. Manheim Area Water & Sewer Authority Wastewater Treatment Plant must hold a permit listing the allowable levels of BOD, suspended solids, coliform bacteria and other pollutants. The discharge permits are called NPDES permits which stands for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. Final treatment focuses on removal of disease-causing organisms from wastewater. Treated wastewater is disinfected by adding chlorine.

The wastewater plant processes an average of 800,000 GPD with a  permitted capacity of 2,300,000 GPD hydraulic and organic capacity.

MAWSA utilizes 2 wells drilled into the Eplea formation aquifer, which lies approximately 200 feet below the Earth’s surface. Raw water is drawn, treated and stored, for transmission to our customer base. Having a safe source of water supply is very important to what we do, and we encourage all to protect ground water sources. Learn more about source water protection here, and more about water testing and quality here.