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When Small POTWs Should Establish a Pretreatment Program

Related Information
  • CWA-NPDES Permit Compliance Technical Assistance Webinar Series
On this page:
  • Training Video
  • Presenters
  • Supplemental Materials

Training Video

This webinar starts with a brief explanation of the basic principles of pretreatment, then it covers what operators need to know in terms of the plants’ treatment capabilities, what types and quantity of pollutants the systems can handle, and what to look for that may indicate pass-through and interference. One speaker presents a case study about one small town’s challenges handling the high-strength flow from a small food processing plant. Finally, the presenters explain what steps wastewater treatment plant operators that accept non-domestic waste should take to protect their workers, physical plant, sewer collection system, effluent quality, and quality of biosolids from the harmful effects of pass-through or interference from industrial or institutional sewer dischargers.

Date of Recording: June 17, 2020 (1-2:30 pm Eastern)

Presenters

  • Al Garcia - Previous to working at the EPA, Al worked at a local municipality and has significant experience providing regulatory control to industrial and commercial facilities, including sampling, inspections, permit writing, compliance evaluation and enforcement.  Al was hired in 2008 as the Pretreatment Coordinator for EPA Region 8 where he currently amuses fellow co-workers with his taste in humor, music and fashion. Al has direct implementation of the Pretreatment program in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana.  He also oversees state authorized Pretreatment programs in Utah, North Dakota, and South Dakota as well as oversight of the Colorado NPDES permitting program. 
  • Jan Pickrel is the National Pretreatment Program Coordinator at EPA and coordinates a diverse set of activities involving industrial wastewater programs, including technology-based effluent guidelines and categorical standards, biosolids, water security and emergency response planning, and emerging contaminants of concern. She has taught many courses on the pretreatment program across the nation, both in person and via webinar.

    Prior to coming to EPA in 1997, Ms. Pickrel worked for 13 years in Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s (VDEQ) Northern Virginia Regional Office, where she served as the Pretreatment Coordinator and Industrial NPDES Coordinator in the region’s Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Program.  During her tenure at VDEQ, she had also served as the Chief Regional Geologist and has extensive experience in land application of biosolids, ground water and surface water investigations, and oil spill remediation efforts.

Supplemental Materials

  • Pretreatment 101: In-Person Training and Recorded Webinars
  • Introduction to the National Pretreatment Program
  • EPA Fact Sheet: Controlling Fats, Oils, and Grease Discharges from Food Service Establishments (PDF)
  • EPA Region 8 - Non-Approved Programs-Example Ordinance (pdf) (784.38 KB)
  • How to Protect Your POTW System and Operators from Damaging Influent: Training Slides (pdf) (2.86 MB)

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Last updated on July 30, 2024
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