Lincoln Center WWTP - Secondary Treatment Plant in Lincoln County, Kansas

Lincoln Center WWTP is a municipal wastewater treatment facility located in Lincoln County, Kansas, United States. The plant serves a population of approximately 1,258 residents, classifying it as a small-scale treatment facility within the state's wastewater infrastructure. The plant provides secondary treatment, which is the standard level required by the U.S. Clean Water Act for municipal wastewater facilities. With a designed capacity of 832.79 thousand cubic meters per year and an actual discharge volume of 476.96 thousand cubic meters, the plant operates well within its capacity. As a U.S. facility, it operates under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, ensuring compliance with federal and state water quality standards. The treated effluent from Lincoln Center WWTP is discharged into a local water body that ultimately drains into the Saline River basin, part of the larger Kansas River watershed. This river system flows eastward to join the Missouri River and eventually the Mississippi River, supporting diverse aquatic life and agricultural water uses downstream. The plant's secondary treatment helps protect these water resources from nutrient pollution and pathogens.

The plant discharges into a tributary of the Saline River, which flows into the Smoky Hill River and then the Kansas River, part of the Missouri-Mississippi River system. This watershed supports agricultural irrigation and provides habitat for fish species such as channel catfish and walleye. The plant's secondary treatment reduces organic pollutants and suspended solids, helping maintain water quality in this ecologically productive region.