Saint Pauls WWTP - Secondary Treatment Plant in St. Pauls, North Carolina

Saint Pauls WWTP is a municipal wastewater treatment facility located in St. Pauls, Robeson County, North Carolina. The plant serves a population of approximately 2,150 residents and operates under the regulatory framework of the US Clean Water Act, which requires NPDES permits for all discharges into surface waters. The plant provides secondary treatment, a standard level for small communities in the United States. With a designed capacity of 1,892.70 megaliters per year and a current discharge volume of 719.23 megaliters per year, the facility operates well within its capacity, indicating room for future growth. Treated effluent from the plant is discharged into local streams that drain into the Lumber River, a blackwater river that flows through the coastal plain of North Carolina. The Lumber River supports diverse aquatic life and is an important recreational and ecological resource in the region.

The plant discharges into tributaries of the Lumber River, which flows southeast through the North Carolina coastal plain before joining the Little Pee Dee River and eventually reaching the Atlantic Ocean via Winyah Bay. The Lumber River is a blackwater system with naturally low pH and high organic content, supporting species such as the Carolina madtom and American eel. The watershed is primarily forested and agricultural, with the plant's discharge contributing to base flow in the river.