Hatton Lagoon Wastewater Treatment Plant, Hatton, North Dakota

Hatton Lagoon is a municipal wastewater treatment facility located in Hatton, Traill County, North Dakota. The plant serves a small population of approximately 777 residents, providing secondary treatment to manage domestic wastewater from the community. As a secondary treatment plant, Hatton Lagoon utilizes biological processes to reduce organic matter and suspended solids. The facility has a designed capacity of 189.27 million gallons per day and discharges a similar volume of treated effluent. Under the US Clean Water Act, such plants operate under National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits issued by the state or EPA, ensuring compliance with water quality standards. The treated effluent from Hatton Lagoon is discharged into local streams that drain into the Red River of the North, which flows northward into Lake Winnipeg in Canada. This watershed supports diverse aquatic life and is part of the larger Hudson Bay drainage basin. The plant's operations help protect downstream water quality and ecological health in this agriculturally important region.

Hatton Lagoon discharges into tributaries of the Red River of the North, which flows through North Dakota and Minnesota into Lake Winnipeg. This watershed is ecologically sensitive, supporting fish species such as walleye and northern pike, and providing habitat for migratory waterfowl. The plant's secondary treatment helps reduce nutrient loading, which is critical for preventing eutrophication in downstream lakes and rivers.