Industrial Pretreatment Program
Prevent Pollutants
The industrial pretreatment program serves to prevent the introduction of pollutants that could interfere with the operations of Chesterfield County’s wastewater treatment plants, to prevent the pass-through of pollutants that could adversely affect aquatic life within the receiving water, to improve the opportunities to recycle and reclaim industrial wastewater and sludge, and to prevent the adverse health and safety effects for workers both at the treatment plant and at the collection system.
Our program meets these objectives by continuously evaluating the wastewater of new and existing facilities and issuing wastewater discharge permits and monitoring permitted industries by regularly sampling wastewater discharge and conducting comprehensive facility inspections.
Our pretreatment program was awarded the Clean Water Act Recognition Award in both 1997 and 2002 from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). View the Industrial Pretreatment Award 2022 Winners (PDF).
View the Local Discharge Limits (PDF).
Pretreatment Program Regulations
Under pretreatment program regulations, industries must meet all discharge standards including federally mandated prohibited discharge standards and categorical discharge standards, as well as local discharge standards for pollutants in their wastewater. Industries may be required to pretreat their wastewater discharge if the pollutants exceed, or have the potential to exceed, the allowable discharge concentration.
We have two wastewater treatment facilities: Falling Creek (PDF) and Proctors Creek (PDF). We do not treat our storm water within the sanitary sewer system. We have the capacity to treat roughly 39 million gallons of wastewater a day from these facilities. The effluent is discharged into the James River. Biosolids from the treatment process are categorized as Class B which is used for land application purposes.
Implementation Regulations
The implementation regulations for the pretreatment program can be found in Chapter 18 of the Chesterfield County Ordinance, Article IV ̶ Industrial Waste Discharge.
Wastewater Treatment Plants
Wastewater treatment facilities are designed to treat domestic waste by physical, biological, and chemical processes. However, industries often use heavy metals, chemicals, acids, or other materials in their operations. If discharged in the sewer system, these materials have the potential to erode sewer lines, produce explosive conditions and interfere with the treatment facilities or impact the waterways.
Reducing Harming Pollutants
The pretreatment program focuses on reducing harmful pollutants discharged from industries to the treatment plants that could interfere with the treatment process or pass through the treatment system. Local limits imposed by the program on industries ensures that the Proctors Creek (PDF) and Falling Creek (PDF) wastewater treatment plants meet their federally mandated discharge limits. The program also monitors the quality of biosolids to ensure safe land application.
Integrated Fix Film Activated Sludge (IFAS) System
Our wastewater treatment facilities uses an IFAS system. It is designed to treat wastewater to meet the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s regulations, including nutrient removal regulation. An IFAS system uses floating media in an activated sludge basin to develop the growth of biomass and enhance the treatment process to meet nutrient regulations.