“Pretreatment” applies to treating wastewater containing pollutants prior to discharging the water into City sewers and the water reclamation facility, also called, the Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW). The City’s sewer collection system is a series of pipes that transports sewer water from homes, commercial buildings, and industrial facilities to our wastewater treatment plant named the Charles M. Wolf Water Resource Center. Here, the treatment plant removes harmful organisms and other contaminants from the sewage permitting us to discharge it safely.

Wastewater treatment plants are designed to treat domestic sewage as well as receive wastewater from industrial (non-domestic) users. The General Pretreatment Regulations establish responsibilities of Federal, State, and local government, industry, and the public to implement Pretreatment Standards to control pollutants industrial users discharge into sewer systems.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) gave the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) primacy or priority over water quality regulations. This means ADEQ can establish wastewater discharge permits to cities like Avondale, thus allowing the City to discharge treated water within allowable limits.

Nonresidential New Businesses, New Construction and Tenant Improvement

Per Avondale Municipal Code Section 24-105 All nonresidential, new businesses, tenant improvements and new construction projects must complete the Industrial Pretreatment Survey and submit, regardless of business type.