PINEDALE WWTP - Ashville, Alabama Wastewater Treatment Plant

PINEDALE WWTP is a municipal wastewater treatment facility located on Pine Dale Road in Ashville, St. Clair County, Alabama. The plant serves a small community with a population equivalent of 885, reflecting its role in managing local domestic wastewater in this inland area of the southeastern United States. The plant provides secondary treatment, which is the standard biological treatment stage required under the U.S. Clean Water Act for municipal facilities. With a designed capacity of 454.25 thousand cubic meters per year and an actual discharge volume of 94.64 thousand cubic meters per year, the plant operates well below its capacity, indicating room for future growth. As a U.S. facility, it operates under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, ensuring compliance with effluent limits. The treated effluent from PINEDALE WWTP is discharged into a local waterway that ultimately drains into the Coosa River basin, part of the larger Mobile River system that flows into the Gulf of Mexico. The plant's operations help protect downstream water quality and aquatic habitats in this ecologically diverse region.

The plant discharges into a tributary of the Coosa River, which flows into the Alabama River and eventually the Mobile River delta and the Gulf of Mexico. This watershed supports diverse aquatic life, including several species of freshwater mussels and fish. The secondary treatment process reduces organic pollutants and suspended solids, helping to maintain water quality in the downstream river system.