Austinville WWTP and Coll Sys - Secondary Treatment Plant in Virginia

The Austinville WWTP and Coll Sys is a municipal wastewater treatment facility located in Austinville, Wythe County, Virginia. Serving a small population of 182 residents, the plant provides secondary treatment to meet state and federal water quality standards. As a secondary treatment plant, it uses biological processes to remove organic matter and suspended solids. The plant has a designed capacity of 75.71 thousand gallons per day and currently discharges a similar volume, indicating full utilization. Operations are regulated under the U.S. Clean Water Act through the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program, administered by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. The plant's treated effluent is discharged to a receiving water body that flows into the New River, part of the Ohio River basin, which ultimately drains to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. The New River supports diverse aquatic life and is an important ecological corridor in the Appalachian region.

The plant discharges into a tributary of the New River, which flows through the Appalachian Mountains and joins the Kanawha River, then the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to the Gulf of Mexico. The New River watershed supports diverse aquatic species, including several endemic fish and mussel species. The region's karst geology can make groundwater particularly sensitive to contamination.