CHICORA BORO SEW AUTH Wastewater Treatment Plant, Chicora, Pennsylvania

CHICORA BORO SEW AUTH is a municipal wastewater treatment facility located in Chicora, Butler County, Pennsylvania. The plant serves a population of about 2,551 residents, reflecting a small community in the rural landscape of western Pennsylvania. Its location near the Allegheny River watershed places it within a region characterized by rolling hills and mixed agricultural and residential land use. The plant provides advanced treatment, which goes beyond the secondary treatment standard required by the US Clean Water Act. This level of treatment typically includes nutrient removal or other processes to reduce pollutants further. The facility's designed capacity of 757.08 aligns with the scale needed for a small agglomeration, and it operates under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting program, which sets effluent limits to protect water quality. The treated effluent from the plant likely discharges into a tributary of the Allegheny River, which flows into the Ohio River and eventually the Mississippi River system. This downstream connection underscores the plant's role in protecting the broader watershed, including aquatic habitats and drinking water sources for communities downstream.

The plant discharges into a tributary of the Allegheny River, which flows into the Ohio River and then the Mississippi River, ultimately reaching the Gulf of Mexico. This watershed supports diverse aquatic life, including fish species such as smallmouth bass and walleye, and provides habitat for freshwater mussels. The advanced treatment helps reduce nutrient loading, which is critical for preventing eutrophication in downstream water bodies like the Gulf of Mexico's hypoxic zone.