MSD
continuously monitors the water quality in Sycamore Creek to ensure
that the plant’s treated discharge is not adversely affecting
the creek or the plants and animals that live there.
The Sycamore
plant is authorized to discharge treated effluent to Sycamore Creek
under an Ohio EPA National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit.
The permit sets limits on the concentration of certain pollutants allowed
in the water. Samples must be collected from the plant’s discharge
outfall. The plant also samples the plant’s influent (untreated
sewage) and monitors Sycamore Creek upstream and downstream of the discharge
outfall.
Samples
are taken as frequently as several times a day to once a quarter and
analyzed using U.S. EPA standards for various parameters, such as: