FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
ABOUT THE
REGIONAL SEWER UTILITY
-
What does the CCMUA do?
- How was sewage treatment handled in Camden County before the CCMUA?
-
How has the CCMUA improved
my environment? -
How much have local streams improved?
-
Who made the decision to improve
water treatment in Camden County? -
How does the CCMUA deal with industrial polluters?
-
How does the CCMUA treat wastewater?
- What happens to the sludge?
![[What about...]](gifs/whatabot.gif)
WHAT DOES THE CCMUA DO?
The County Regional Wastewater Treatment System collects and treats the sewage discharged every day from properties in Camden County. The Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority treats 58 million gallons (220 million liters) of sewage per day at our main plant, Delaware No. 1 Water Pollution Control Facility and about 2 1/4 million gallons (8.5 million liters) per day at our Winslow Water Pollution Control Facility. This flow travels through 110 miles (175 kilometers) of pipe assisted by 25 pump stations located throughout the County. At the two plants, wastewater receives primary and secondary treatment through a biological process which removes 90-95% of the pollutants. Sludge is currently transported to Burlington County and Gloucester County's facilities for final disposal. (Burlington County is Camden County's neighbor on the north, and Gloucester County is to the south.)
HOW WAS SEWAGE TREATMENT HANDLED IN CAMDEN COUNTY BEFORE THE
CCMUA?
Before the Regional Wastewater Treatment System was constructed, 45 million gallons (170 million liters) per day of inadequately treated sewage was discharged into the lakes and streams of Camden County. Local municipal treatment plants, some 50 years old, were handling more flow than they were designed for. Camden County's surface water, groundwater, and drinking water were threatened by this pollution. The public health of our citizens was jeopardized by water borne diseases. In fact, in 1983 the State of New Jersey ranked Camden County's wastewater treatment system as the number one environmental protection priority in the state.
HOW HAS THE CCMUA IMPROVED MY ENVIRONMENT?
Pollution of local waterways was reduced by 90 - 95 % (as measured by the bacteria count) after the Regional Wastewater Facility began operation. The Authority also made repairs to Camden's and Gloucester City's sewer system. This has halted the discharge of 7 million gallons (26 million liters) per day of raw sewage into the Delaware River. The Cooper River is much, much cleaner than it once was!
Our Industrial Pretreatment Program helps local businesses be good citizens by determining what they need to do before their wastewater enters the collection system. This keeps costs down for users as a whole and lets the CCMUA produce a higher quality end product - clean water.
Blue herons and great and snowy egrets have returned to local streams. Swimming and boating races are now regularly held on the Cooper River - something that would have been unthinkable in the 1970s.
HOW MUCH HAVE LOCAL STREAMS IMPROVED?
Water Body
|
Sewage Discharge Eliminated by the CCMUA
|
% Reduction in Bacteria Levels
|
|---|---|---|
|
Cooper River
|
13,000,000 gallons (49 million liters) per day
|
95%
|
|
Newton Creek
|
3,000,000 gallons (11 million liters) per day
|
95%
|
|
Big Timber Creek
|
15,000,000 gallons (57 million liters) per day
|
80%
|
|
Pennsauken Creek
|
6,000,000 gallons (23 million liters) per day
|
80% (est.)
|
|
Great Egg Harbor River
|
1,000,000 gallons (3.8 million liters) per day
|
80% (est.)
|
WHO MADE THE DECISION TO IMPROVE WATER TREATMENT IN CAMDEN
COUNTY?
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1967 required each state to develop water quality standards to protect surface water and groundwater. The New Jersey Department of Health (now the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection) developed regulations that spelled out how wastewater had to be treated. New Jersey state legislation required all future sewerage systems to be developed regionally.
In 1972, the Camden County Board of Chosen Freeholders created the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority to meet these requirements. The CCMUA has the responsibility and the sole authority to plan for and treat wastewater within Camden County as required by the Federal Clean Water Act.
HOW WAS CAMDEN CITY CHOSEN AS THE SITE OF THE MAIN PLANT?
Locating the main treatment plant in Camden made sense because -
- Federal and state water quality regulations require advanced (also called "tertiary") treatment of wastewater which will be discharged into small streams like the interior streams of the county - Big Timber Creek, Cooper River, Great Egg Harbor River, Mullica River, and Pennsauken Creek. Wastewater which will be discharged into large streams - like the Delaware River - needs only "secondary" treatment. Tertiary treatment is much more expensive to build and operate than secondary treatment.
- As a result, it was cheaper and better for the environment to locate the main plant to discharge into the Delaware River rather than into one of the small interior streams of Camden County. (Average flow in the Delaware River is 4 billion gallons (15 billion liters) per day. The Cooper River, perhaps the biggest interior stream, has a flow of 35 million gallons (132 million liters) per day. Our average daily discharge of 50 - 60 million gallons (190 - 227 million liters) per day is less than 2% of the total Delaware River flow passing our main plant!)
- Before the CCMUA was created, there were four plants in Camden County which discharged into the Delaware River. The Camden City plant had a capacity of 53 million gallons (200 million liters) per day. The second largest plant could only process 7 million gallons (26 million liters) per day.
For these reasons, the CCMUA purchased and upgraded the original main Camden City plant. Delaware No. 1 WPCF now provides primary and secondary treatment and sludge dewatering.
WHY DOES THE CCMUA HAVE A SECOND PLANT IN WINSLOW TOWNSHIP?
Most of Camden County is in the Delaware River drainage basin (water in this area will eventually flow into the Delaware River). The southeastern end of the county is in the Atlantic Basin, where water flows into the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Great Egg Harbor River or the Mullica River.
Water regulatory agencies prefer to have sewage treated and returned to the drainage basin it came from. They want to make sure that stream flow is not harmed by constantly removing water from one basin and not returning it. Winslow Township is in the Atlantic Basin. Water from the Winslow plant eventually reaches the Great Egg Harbor River.
Another reason to upgrade the original Winslow plant was the distance between Winslow Township and Camden. Building and maintaining collection pipes would cost more than buying, upgrading, and running the Winslow plant.
WHAT ARE PUMPING STATIONS FOR?
The regional collection system is mostly "gravity driven" - water flows downhill, even in the relatively flat land of South Jersey. But in some cases, there are good reasons to cross an uphill slope.
- Sometimes an uphill shortcut can allow much less total pipe length.
- Avoiding harm to environmentally sensitive areas or existing buildings can require an uphill detour.
- Wastewater enters the regional system at the sites of former municipal treatment plants. Sometimes it needs to go uphill from a collection station to join the rest of the system.
The twenty-five pumping stations raise water to a level high enough to overcome such obstacles and continue to the main plant.
HOW DOES THE CCMUA DEAL WITH INDUSTRIAL POLLUTERS?
Our Industrial Pretreatment Program (delegated to the CCMUA by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection) works with businesses in Camden County to determine if they are at risk of causing excess demand on the treatment facilities. Businesses found to be at risk are issued permits spelling out the limits on pollutants likely to be in their wastewater. The businesses must have their discharges tested at stated intervals and report on the test results. They are also subject to unannounced testing, performed by CCMUA staff members. Fines can be assessed if necessary to enforce compliance.
Our entire Sewer Use Ordinance , also known as the Industrial Pretreatment Rules and Regulations, is available on the Internet.
HOW DOES THE CCMUA TREAT WASTEWATER?
At the main plant, water from the Camden City system and the regional collection system enters a Junction Chamber where the two flows mix together. (There is also a smaller inflow from North Camden and Pennsauken Township.)
The Preliminary Treatment Facility screens out large objects and lets sand and gravel settle out of the wastewater. In the Primary Sedimentation Tanks, more waste settles out of the water as "primary sludge". At this point it has completed "primary treatment."
The water flows into the Aeration Tanks to be mixed with secondary sludge and a source of oxygen. In the Aeration Tanks, bacteria consume more pollutants. Next, in the Final Sedimentation Tanks, clumps of dead bacteria and pollutants are allowed to settle out as "secondary sludge". About 30% of the secondary sludge is returned to the Aeration Tanks, and the rest is dewatered and further processed.
The wastewater proceeds to the Chlorine Contact Tanks. Here it is mixed with a sodium hypochlorite solution - similar to household bleach - and discharged to the Delaware River.
The Winslow plant, a much smaller site, uses a similar though smaller scale process. The treated wastewater from this plant is disposed of in Recharge Basins. (There is no stream close to the Winslow plant suitable for discharge.) Because of this, the Winslow WPCF provides advanced, tertiary treatment of the wastewater.
The Recharge Basins used by the Winslow plant are sand-lined open pits. Water seeps slowly through the special fine sand in the bottom of the pit as a final purification step. Groundwater monitoring wells located around the Recharge Basins are sampled to check the quality of the wastewater. From this point, it enters the aquifer. At last it reaches the Great Egg Harbor River.
A more detailed explanation is available.
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE SLUDGE?
At first, sludge is held in the Sludge Storage Tanks. At this stage, primary sludge is about 96% water and secondary sludge is about 99% water.
In the Thickening and Dewatering Building, secondary sludge is processed in the Gravity Belt Thickeners to produce "thickened secondary sludge". The thickened secondary sludge and the primary sludge continue to the Belt Filter Presses. When the sludge enters the Belt Presses, it looks like dirty water. After processing, the sludge is about 80% water and looks like mud.
The sludge is then disposed of off-site. Possibilities include beneficial reuse such as land application and composting.
Backwash (water removed from the sludge in the Centrifuge and the Belt Presses) is returned to the main system at the entrance of the Primary Sedimentation Tanks for treatment.