Nutrient Removal Analysis at California Wastewater Treatment Facilities

Monitoring data can be used to identify wastewater treatment facilities that perform nutrient removal based on wastewater effluent nutrient concentrations. A script was developed using self-reported data taken from the California Integrated Water Quality System Project (CIWQS) to clean, filter, and organize a batch dataset of effluent flows, constituent concentrations, and constituent mass loadings for wastewater treatment facilities in California. Data for each facility was used to develop assessments for potential nutrient removal in individual facilities. Data from 426 wastewater treatment facilities was accessed through CIWQS. 144 facilities had adequate data to perform the analysis for at least one year. After analysis, 95 facilities were thought to use some form of nutrient removal. This information can be used to quickly group facilities of interest for focused analysis in lieu of a centralized database of facility characteristics that includes treatment train configuration and NPDES permit requirements. The technique can be adapted to several constituents. This analysis was an exploratory venture and not intended to be used as a final assessment of treatment practices for facilities in California.