TEMPLE WWT Wastewater Treatment Plant, Cotton County, Oklahoma

TEMPLE WWT is a municipal wastewater treatment facility located in Cotton County, Oklahoma, serving a small population of 1,146 residents. The plant provides secondary treatment, a standard level for communities of this size in the United States, ensuring compliance with federal water quality standards. The plant has a designed capacity of 492.10 volume units and discharges a similar volume of treated wastewater. As a US facility, it operates under the Clean Water Act's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program, which sets effluent limits to protect receiving waters. Secondary treatment typically removes at least 85% of biochemical oxygen demand and suspended solids. The treated effluent enters local streams that drain into the Red River basin, eventually reaching the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. The plant plays a key role in protecting downstream aquatic ecosystems and maintaining water quality in this agricultural region of southern Oklahoma.

The plant discharges into local waterways within the Red River basin, which flows southward into the Red River and ultimately the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico. The surrounding area is primarily agricultural, so the plant helps prevent nutrient pollution that could contribute to hypoxia in the Gulf. The watershed supports diverse aquatic life and is important for regional water resources.