Lake Charles Plant C Wastewater Treatment Facility, Lake Charles, Louisiana

Lake Charles Plant C is a municipal wastewater treatment facility located on West 18th Street in Lake Charles, Louisiana, serving a population of approximately 50,000 residents. The plant is part of the city's wastewater infrastructure, managed under the regulatory framework of the US Clean Water Act and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program. As a facility serving a medium-sized agglomeration, it is expected to meet secondary treatment standards as defined by the EPA. The plant has a designed capacity of 1.00 million gallons per day, indicating it is sized to handle the wastewater generated by the local community. Plants of this scale in the United States typically employ biological treatment processes such as activated sludge or trickling filters to achieve secondary treatment levels. It is assumed to be operational given its inclusion in public records. The treated effluent from Lake Charles Plant C is discharged into the local watershed, which ultimately drains into the Calcasieu River and then to the Gulf of Mexico. The Calcasieu River basin supports diverse aquatic life and is an important ecological corridor in southwestern Louisiana. The plant's operations are subject to state and federal regulations to protect water quality in the receiving waters and downstream environments.

Lake Charles Plant C discharges into the Calcasieu River basin, which flows southward through Louisiana and empties into the Calcasieu Ship Channel and eventually the Gulf of Mexico. The Calcasieu River supports a variety of fish and wildlife, including migratory birds and estuarine species. The watershed is influenced by industrial and agricultural activities, and the plant's treatment standards help mitigate nutrient and pollutant loads to the sensitive coastal ecosystem.