Burlingame WWTP - Secondary Treatment Plant in Osage County, Kansas

Burlingame WWTP is a municipal wastewater treatment facility located in Osage County, Kansas, serving a small community of about 995 residents. The plant provides secondary treatment, which is the standard level required by the US Clean Water Act for most municipal facilities to protect water quality. The plant has a designed capacity of 458.03 million gallons per year and currently treats an annual discharge volume of 340.69 million gallons. As a small agglomeration, it operates under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program, which sets effluent limits to safeguard receiving waters. The treated effluent is discharged into local waterways that eventually drain into the Kansas River basin and ultimately the Mississippi River system. The plant's operations help protect downstream aquatic ecosystems and maintain water quality for recreational and ecological uses in the region.

The plant discharges into tributaries of the Kansas River, which flows into the Missouri River and then the Mississippi River, eventually reaching the Gulf of Mexico. The local watershed supports diverse aquatic life and is part of a larger river system that provides habitat for fish and migratory birds. The plant's secondary treatment helps reduce nutrient and pollutant loads, mitigating impacts on downstream water bodies.