The Rogers Water Utilities Pretreatment Program administers local, state, and federal regulations to control pollutants discharged from Commercial and Industrial Users (IUs) within the City of Rogers which may pass through or interfere with the City’s Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW).  Roger’s POTW consists of the sewer collection system and the wastewater treatment plant.  The Pretreatment Program administers and enforces the regulations in order to:

• Protect the City’s wastewater collection system, treatment plant, and workers.
• Allow the beneficial re-use of biosolids.
• Allow the reclamation of treated effluent for irrigation and other uses.
• Maintain water quality in the Osage Creek.

POTWs are designed to treat typical household wastes and biodegradable commercial and industrial wastes.  Commercial and industrial facilities that discharge toxic pollutants to the treatment plant may be very detrimental to treatment plant processes and the environment.  IUs which discharge pollutants into the POTW are required to install, operate, and adequately maintain pretreatment equipment to remove pollutants that could otherwise damage, obstruct, interfere with, or pass through the POTW.

Wastewater from restaurants and other food service industries are often more problematic due to the prevalence of conventional pollutants such as grease, organic matter and solids.  Grease can clog and overload the sewer system.  Processing these food contaminants raises the cost of treating wastewater.

The Pretreatment Program protects the treatment process and keeps costs down by working with local businesses to minimize pollutant discharges.  Activities of the Roger’s Pretreatment Program include the review of pretreatment designs, the issuance of permits, facility inspections, monitoring of facilities (wastewater sample collection), review of industry self-monitoring reports, and enforcement activities.

For more information on the Pretreatment Program, please contact:

Paul Burns, Pretreatment Coordinator
Pretreatment - Grease Abatement - Pollution Prevention
Rogers Pollution Control Facility
4300 Rainbow Road
Rogers, Arkansas  72758-1440
479-273-7378 ext. 109
paulburns@rwu.org