Why treat wastewater?

It's a matter of caring for our environment and for our own health. If it is not properly cleaned, water can carry disease. Since we live, work and play so close to water, harmful bacteria have to be removed to make water safe.

Nature has an amazing ability to cope with small amounts of water wastes and pollution, but it would be overwhelmed if we didn't treat the billions of gallons of wastewater and sewage produced every day before releasing it back to the environment. Treatment plants reduce pollutants in wastewater to a level nature can handle. If the term "wastewater treatment" is confusing to you, you might think of it as "sewage treatment."

Show All Answers

1. Is my water safe to drink?
2. How often does PWSD test water for contaminants?
3. What causes discolored water?
4. What are those green boxes?
5. What is wastewater?
6. Why treat wastewater?
7. How can I help protect our water quality?