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United States Environmental Protection Agency
Clean Watersheds Needs Survey (CWNS)
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Facilities Database (Needs Survey) - Frequently Asked Questions

Below are questions which are most frequently asked
about municipal wastewater facilities and their
answers which are based on 1996 Clean Water
Needs Survey results.

Q.   How many wastewater treatment facilities
            exist in the country?

	A.  There are 16,024 publicly-owned
       wastewater treatment facilities currently in
       operation.  (For information on privately-owned
       facilities, including those that treat industrial
       facilities, contact User Support for the Permit
       Compliance System at (202) 564-7277.

Q.  How many people are served by the 16,024
           facilities?

	A.  There are 189,710,899 people
       (approximately 72 percent of the U.S. population)
       being served.

Q.   What is the amount of wastewater flow
            currently treated each day?

	A.  There is about 32,175 millions of gallons per day 
       of wastewater currently being treated at the 16,024
       facilities.

Q.   How many facilities provide a secondary
            or advanced level of treatment?

	A.  Currently, 9,388 facilities provide
       secondary treatment, 4,428 facilities provide
       advanced treatment, and 2,032 facilities do not
       discharge.  There are 176 facilities that provide
       a treatment level that is less than secondary
       (these include facilities with ocean discharge
       waivers, and treatment facilities discharging
       to other facilities meeting secondary treatment
       or better).

Q.  What is the number of facilities that
           receive flows from systems that have
           combined sewers (collecting both sanitary
           and stormwater flow)?

	A.  There are currently 880 facilities that
       receive flows from combined sewer systems. 

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