Industrial Pretreatment
Water pollution makes waters unsafe for drinking, fishing, swimming, and other activities. The Clean Water Act prohibits anybody from discharging pollutants into the waters of the United States unless they have an NPDES (NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM PERMIT PROGRAM) permit.
The Clean Water Act
Substances regulated as pollutants under the Clean Water Act include:
- solid waste
- sewage
- garbage
- sewage sludge
- chemical wastes
- biological materials
- radioactive materials
- heat
- rock
- sand
- industrial waste
- municipal waste
- agricultural waste
The DeKalb Sanitary District has an NPDES permit that regulates the treatment plant's discharge to the Kishwaukee. The DeKalb Sanitary District empties into the water of the south branch of the Kishwaukee River. Since this is a very small body of water, limits are stringent.
Through the Local Limits program, DSD regulates discharges that enter the collection system so that the treatment plant's NPDES Permit Limits can be met. It administers monitoring and permitting system for significant contributors of regulated substances.
Monitoring Significant Industrial Users
DeKalb Sanitary District provides monitoring under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act for a number of "Significant Industrial Users" who by virtue of the amount or type of pollutants they might produce require regular testing to prove the safety of their discharge as a condition of their permit to discharge to the DeKalb Sanitary District.
Local Industries
Seven local industries meet the criteria established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.
The District samples and tests their effluent to ensure that local and federal discharge limits for potentially harmful substances are not exceeded.
Some of these industries are required to do "pretreatment" to reduce the amounts of identified substances in their wastewater before discharging it.
City of DeKalb
The District also issues discharge permits and monitors the discharges to the collection system of wastewater issuing from the Drinking Water Radium Reduction facilities of the City of DeKalb.
Questions about the Industrial Pretreatment Program?
Call Steve Suddeth, Pretreatment Coordinator and Laboratory Supervisor or Mike Zima, District Manager at 815 758-3513.