The District is responsible
for wastewater treatment facilities and interceptor sewers in the
greater Cleveland Metropolitan Area. This service area encompasses the
City of Cleveland and all or portions of 60 suburban municipalities in
Cuyahoga, Summit and Lorain Counties and includes a diversified group
of manufacturing and processing industries.
Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs): The District owns and
operates three major wastewater treatment plants: Easterly, Southerly
and Westerly. Through the operation of these plants, the District
minimizes the amount of pollution entering Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga
River.
Interceptor Sewers: The District is also responsible for a
variety of related wastewater treatment infrastructure and projects,
designed to provide wastewater conveyance from the local sewers to the
treatment plants. The District maintains over two hundred miles of
large interceptor sewers.
Combined Sewer Overflow Control: The City of Cleveland and some nearby suburbs have combined sewers, in
which one pipe conveys both stormwater and sanitary sewage. The
District maintains combined sewer overflows throughout the Greater
Cleveland area.
Industrial Waste Control:
The District conducts investigations to identify pollutants within the
sewage collection system that have the potential to be reduced through
pollution prevention and works with industrial customers to achieve
pollution prevention goals.
Other Areas: Other District activities include watershed
protection and planning, working with local communities to ensure that
small streams and tributaries are properly maintained.
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A wastewater collection system gathers used water from homes and businesses and directs it to the conveyance system. Some of the components of a collection system include: gravity sewers, force mains, manholes, regulators and lift stations. Proper maintenance of the collection system ensures that wastewater is not allowed to back up and overflow into the street, someone's home, or into the streams, rivers or Lake Erie.
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Conveyance of wastewater is achieved through a system of local sewers, combined sewers, intercommunity relief sewers, interceptor sewers, automated regulators and pump stations. Proper operation and maintenance of the conveyance system ensures that wastewater is safely and efficiently transported to treatment plants.
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Wastewater treatment cleans up water so that it may be safely released to a lake or river, and it usually consists of two major stages - primary and secondary. Primary treatment separates sand, grit and larger solids from the wastewater, but solids still remain. Secondary treatment removes these solids mainly through a biological process.
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