Middle River H and R Facility STP - Town of Hawthorne, Wisconsin Wastewater Treatment

Middle River H and R Facility STP serves the Middle River Health & Rehabilitation Center and the surrounding community in Town of Hawthorne, Wisconsin. The plant provides secondary treatment for a population of 275, with a designed capacity of 68.14 volume units and an average discharge of 60.57 volume units. As a secondary treatment facility, the plant meets the US Clean Water Act requirement for biological treatment of organic matter. Plants of this scale in Wisconsin are typically regulated under the Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (WPDES), which implements federal NPDES standards. The plant's location within 10 km of Lake Superior places it in a sensitive coastal zone. The treated effluent is discharged into the Middle River watershed, which flows into Lake Superior, the largest of the Great Lakes. Lake Superior supports a diverse aquatic ecosystem, including lake trout, whitefish, and other cold-water species. The plant's proximity to this ecologically significant water body underscores the importance of its treatment performance.

The plant discharges into the Middle River, a tributary of Lake Superior in the Great Lakes Basin. Lake Superior is the world's largest freshwater lake by surface area and supports a cold-water ecosystem with species such as lake trout, burbot, and deepwater sculpin. The watershed is forested and sparsely populated, with the plant's effluent entering a sensitive coastal environment that requires careful nutrient management to prevent eutrophication.