CARLISLE STP - Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant in Carlisle, Kentucky

CARLISLE STP is an advanced wastewater treatment facility located at 107 Paris Lane in Carlisle, Kentucky, serving a population of 2,002. The plant operates as part of the municipal wastewater infrastructure for the city and surrounding area in Nicholas County. The plant provides advanced treatment, which goes beyond secondary treatment to remove additional nutrients and contaminants. With a designed capacity of 1,324.89 million gallons per year and an actual discharge volume of 810.08 million gallons per year, the facility operates below its capacity. As a US plant, it operates under the Clean Water Act and is subject to National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting requirements enforced by the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet. The treated effluent is discharged into a local receiving water body, which ultimately drains into the Licking River watershed and then into the Ohio River. The Ohio River flows into the Mississippi River, which empties into the Gulf of Mexico. The plant's advanced treatment helps protect downstream water quality in this important regional drainage system.

The plant discharges into a tributary of the Licking River, which flows northward through Kentucky to join the Ohio River near Covington. The Ohio River then flows into the Mississippi River, eventually reaching the Gulf of Mexico. The Licking River watershed supports diverse aquatic life and is an important ecological corridor in the region. Advanced treatment at this plant helps reduce nutrient loading that could contribute to hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico.