Cambridge WWTP - Secondary Treatment Facility in Cambridge, Nebraska

Cambridge WWTP is a municipal wastewater treatment facility located at 401 Nasby Street in Cambridge, Nebraska, serving a population of 1,107. The plant provides secondary treatment, a standard level for small communities in the United States, ensuring compliance with federal and state water quality standards. The plant has a designed capacity of 567.81 cubic meters per day and discharges a similar daily volume. As a US facility, it operates under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program, which sets effluent limits to protect receiving waters. Secondary treatment typically involves biological processes to reduce organic matter and suspended solids. The treated effluent is discharged into a local waterway that ultimately drains into the Republican River basin, part of the larger Mississippi River watershed. This system supports agricultural irrigation and aquatic habitats in the Great Plains region. Proper treatment helps maintain water quality for downstream communities and ecosystems.

The plant's discharge enters a tributary of the Republican River, which flows through Nebraska and Kansas before joining the Kansas River and eventually the Mississippi River. This watershed supports diverse aquatic life and provides water for irrigation in the semi-arid Great Plains. The plant's secondary treatment helps reduce nutrient loads that could otherwise contribute to algal blooms in downstream reservoirs.