PLAINVILLE WWTP - Advanced Wastewater Treatment in Daviess County, Indiana

PLAINVILLE WWTP is a municipal wastewater treatment facility located on County Road 1100 North in Daviess County, Indiana. Serving a population of 548, the plant provides advanced treatment to protect local water quality in the rural Midwest. The plant operates under the U.S. Clean Water Act, which requires NPDES permits for all discharges. With advanced treatment, it goes beyond secondary standards to remove nutrients and other pollutants, meeting stringent effluent limits typical for sensitive watersheds. The designed capacity of 302.83 thousand cubic meters per year indicates ample reserve for future growth. The treated effluent is discharged into a local waterway that drains into the White River watershed, ultimately reaching the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. Advanced treatment helps reduce nutrient loading, contributing to downstream efforts to mitigate the Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone.

The plant's discharge enters a tributary of the White River, which flows into the Wabash River and then the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers before reaching the Gulf of Mexico. This watershed supports diverse aquatic life and is part of a larger effort to reduce nutrient pollution that contributes to seasonal hypoxia in the Gulf. The advanced treatment level helps protect local streams and downstream ecosystems.