Tivoli STP - Secondary Wastewater Treatment Plant in Tivoli, Texas

Tivoli STP is a municipal wastewater treatment facility located in Tivoli, Refugio County, Texas. The plant serves a small population of 500 residents and operates under secondary treatment, which is the minimum standard for municipal wastewater in the United States under the Clean Water Act. The plant has a designed capacity of 302.83 m³/day and currently discharges 185.49 m³/day of treated effluent. As a small facility in Texas, it is subject to state-level NPDES permits issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), which regulate discharge limits to protect water quality. The treated wastewater is discharged into local waterways that ultimately drain into the Gulf of Mexico. The plant's proximity to the coast (within 10 km) means its effluent enters a sensitive coastal ecosystem, where nutrient and pathogen control are critical for protecting estuarine habitats and marine life.

The plant discharges into a watershed that flows into the Gulf of Mexico near the Texas Coastal Bend. This region supports diverse estuarine habitats, including seagrass beds and oyster reefs, which are sensitive to nutrient loading and require careful management of treated wastewater discharges. The downstream environment includes the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve, a protected area that relies on good water quality from upstream sources.