The
Sycamore Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant was originally built in 1957
with a design average treatment capacity of 1 million gallons per day
(MGD). Since that time, the plant has been expanded three times (1966,
1970 and 1991) to increase treatment to its present capacity of 6 MGD.
The
plant employs 11 and operates seven days a week, 24 hours a day. The
plant manager is Larry Scanlan, and the senior plant supervisor is Dan
Siler.
Sycamore
Creek treats wastewater using five different treatment stages: preliminary,
primary, secondary, tertiary and disinfection. Preliminary treatment
consists of screening out large debris and removing grit. Primary treatment
removes settleable solids. Secondary treatment uses microorganisms or
“bugs” to remove pollutants. Tertiary treatment involves
sand filtration. Treated wastewater is then disinfected and discharged
to Sycamore Creek, which flows into the Little Miami River. All wastewater
sludge that is generated is hauled by tanker truck to other MSD facilities
for dewatering and incineration.
On
July 17, 2001, the Sycamore Plant was inundated by a flash flood and
put out of commission for 20 hours. As
a result, planned expansions and improvements to the plant will incorporate
measures to help prevent future large-scale flood damage, such as regrading
of roads and relocation of electrical and communication equipment.
