What We Do
The City's Pretreatment Program is part of the Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (TPDES) governed by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The TPDES Program is part of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) governed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The purpose of the program is to control the pollutants discharged into sewer systems and to reduce the amount of pollutants released into the environment.
Wastewater from homes, industrial facilities and commercial buildings is collected and transported through a series of pipes, which is the collection system, to the City's wastewater treatment plant. The plant removes harmful organisms and contaminants from the wastewater before discharging into the receiving stream, river or lake.
Most Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTWs) are designed to treat household waste but may have difficulty treating waste from industrial and commercial facilities. The pollutants from industrial and commercial facilities may cause serious problems at POTWs.
Problems may be prevented by recycling, waste minimization, chemical substitution, pretreatment or other best management practices to reduce or eliminate the pollutants.