Southwest Wastewater Treatment Plant

The Southwest Wastewater Treatment Plant (SWWTP) is located at the confluence of Wilson's Creek and South Creek. The plant began operation in 1959 with a flow capacity of 12 million gallons per day. The plant has since undergone two major upgrades. An expansion and major upgrade was completed in 1978 that increased the SWWTP capacity to 30 million gallons per day. Higher levels of treatment were also achieved at this time. Further expansion and major improvements were completed in 1993 with the addition of a second treatment train, Plant#2. Other major construction phases involved the further enhancement of the 1993 expansion to include biological removal of phosphorus followed by the addition of chemical phosphorus removal for the 1978 expansion. New biosolids handling improvements were instituted along with the construction of a 1.2 million gallon biosolids storage tank. Other construction included the addition of biological nitrogen removal, two 165' diameter primary clarifiers, a new pumping station, and biofilter odor control.

The combination of these four phases of construction is now capable of continually treating 42.5 million gallons per day of Springfield's wastewater and 90 million gallons per day for shorter periods. The average daily flow at this time is approximately 35 million gallons per day. The SW Treatment Facility, in accordance with the Clean Water Act, is governed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and locally by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MoDNR) through the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit program to ensure a high quality of water being discharged into the water ways. The plant is designed to produce an effluent which can be discharged into Wilson's Creek without having any negative environmental impact on the river water quality.The plant is staffed 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, by 43 operation, maintenance, and laboratory personnel. The plant removes approximately 70,000 pounds of pollutants from the wastewater per day before it is discharged. The Wastewater Laboratory, located at the SWWTP, provides 70,000 analyses each year for regulatory reporting, plant operational controls and industrial billing, as well as for the industrial pretreatment and storm water programs.