Bennett STL Wastewater Treatment Plant - Bennett, Iowa, USA

Bennett STL is a municipal wastewater treatment facility located on Poplar Street in Bennett, a small town in Cedar County, Iowa. The plant serves a population of about 395 residents, classifying it as a small-scale treatment system typical of rural Midwestern communities. The plant employs advanced treatment processes, which go beyond the secondary treatment standard required by the U.S. Clean Water Act. This level of treatment is often implemented to meet stringent discharge limits for nutrients or other pollutants, protecting sensitive downstream waters. The facility has a designed capacity of 223,340 gallons per day and currently treats an average of 230,910 gallons per day, indicating operation near its hydraulic capacity. The treated effluent is discharged into a local water body that ultimately drains into the Mississippi River basin. The plant's advanced treatment helps safeguard water quality in the region's streams and rivers, which support diverse aquatic life and are used for recreation and drinking water supply downstream.

The plant discharges into a tributary of the Cedar River, which flows into the Iowa River and then the Mississippi River. The Mississippi River basin is a major ecological corridor supporting hundreds of fish and bird species. Advanced treatment at this plant reduces nutrient loading, helping to mitigate hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico, where the Mississippi River terminates.