Cedar Vale WWTP: Secondary Treatment Plant in Kansas, USA

Cedar Vale WWTP is a municipal wastewater treatment facility located in Cedar Vale, Kansas, United States. The plant serves a small population of 723 residents in the rural community of Chautauqua County. It operates under the regulatory framework of the US Clean Water Act, which requires secondary treatment for municipal wastewater discharges. The plant provides secondary treatment, a standard biological process that removes organic matter and suspended solids. With a designed capacity of 454.25 million gallons per year and an actual discharge volume of 272.55 million gallons per year, the facility operates below its capacity. As a US plant, it is subject to National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits issued by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, which set effluent limits to protect water quality. The treated effluent from Cedar Vale WWTP is discharged into a local water body that ultimately drains into the Verdigris River basin, part of the larger Arkansas River watershed. This river system flows through the Great Plains and eventually reaches the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. The plant plays a key role in protecting local streams and downstream aquatic habitats from nutrient pollution and pathogens.

The Cedar Vale WWTP discharges into a tributary of the Verdigris River, which flows through southeastern Kansas into Oklahoma. The Verdigris River joins the Arkansas River, which ultimately drains into the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. This watershed supports diverse aquatic life and is an important migratory corridor for birds. The plant's secondary treatment helps reduce organic loading and nutrient inputs, protecting downstream water quality in this ecologically sensitive prairie river system.