NEW PHILADELPHIA, OHIO

SEWER AND WASTEWATER TREATMENT

A HISTORIC TIME LINE

One of the most invisible and valuable aspects of any municipality is in the methodology and effectiveness of how it handles its potentially dangerous and some times deadly wastewater. The following is a time line of how the City of New Philadelphia wastewater evolved into to the highly sophisticated system we have today.

1804 The City of New Philadelphia was founded by John Knisely. Being ever optimistic, Knisely felt that New Philadelphia was destined to become a great city. He planned the site with a great deal of care. This also included the future sewer and storm water conveyance system. A great deal of attention to detail was foremost in Knisely’s plans. A surveyor was hired and the city was laid out in a checkerboard format very similar to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1807 The county of Tuscarawas was established. Because of Knisely’s influence and generous gifts to the community, New Philadelphia was selected as the county seat.

1834 John Knisely died at the age of 84. His tombstone reads: “JOHN KNISELY, Founder of New Philadelphia”

1858 Until now there was little formal local legislation providing for rules and regulations in New Philadelphia. The official recording of ordinances began in 1858. Most of the first Orders of Business were written in long hand.

1922 Formal authority for the responsibility of the sewer system was basically non-existent. Local authorities maintained some system of Rules and Enforcement for sanitary sewer lines. In 1922 council approved and appropriated funds to construct a sewage treatment facility. At this time all domestic and industrial waste was conveyed to the rivers and streams that eventually found its way into the Tuscarawas River.

A sewage treatment facility was constructed on the site of the present day wastewater treatment plant. The structure, known as an Imhoff Tank, was a simple design and was really no more then a two story septic system. Ironically the Imhoff Tank was never utilized and was demolished in 1952 and buried at the current site of the wastewater treatment plant. Domestic and industrial sewage continued to be directly discharged via system of sewer lines made of wood, brick, iron and a combination of wood and brick.

1924 An ordinance ( ORD. 1181 passed 10-3-1924 ) was put in place. Section 931.06 Public Service Director: Rules, Records, Enforcement was adapted into the City’s Codified Ordinances.

1948 The enactment of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act was passed. The act was administered by the Health Department.

1952 A landmark decision was made by the City to construct a ‘Sewage Treatment Plant”. This was to comply with state requirements. The cost of the project was approximately $597,000 dollars, which included required sewer lines. The contract was let and awarded to Wendling Construction.

1954 Wendling Construction built the new wastewater treatment facility. Poor planning and miscalculating the amount of ground water they would encounter during construction of the new facility would eventually lead Wendling Construction to go bankrupt.

The new wastewater treatment plant was desined for an average daily flow of 1.73 million gallons of flow per day. The plant consisted of the main building with two primary clarifiers and two anaerobic digesters to digest the sludges collected during the process of treatment. The plant was capable of removing up to 50 percent of pollutants. This was the first major step the city has ever made in protecting the Tuscarawas River and its biological and aquatic life, and the water tables that many drew their potable water supplies from.

1962 The Water Pollution Control Board under the Department of Health issues on February 28, 1962 a “Permit to Discharge” to the City of New Philadelphia’s Wastewater Treatment Plant. Discharge requirements were minimal compared to today’s standards.

1965 The passage of the Water Quality Act of 1965 created the ground work for the existing Water Pollution Control Program.

1970 Environmental concerns were addressed with the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

1972 Ohio follows the USEPA with the creation of the Ohio Environmental

Agency.

With the creation of these new agencies, it was becoming increasingly more evident that that as the field of water pollution continued to evolve personnel must be much better trained. The field of wastewater was fast becoming increasingly more sophisticated and new technology was being added at a pace never seen before. It was apparent that a new generation of wastewater personnel must be trained to keep abreast of this this new and ever changing field. Programs were developed to teach and certify wastewater personnel to be able to handle the new degree of difficulty in maintaining and understanding the complexities of the new technologies being introduced. The personnel would not be readily seen by the public, but their presence a very important necessity.

1973 The City under requirements of the USEPA and OEPA was ordered to upgrade the existing facility to more complex treatment and a much more stringent discharge limitations.

1974 The upgrade and retrofitting of the facility was now complete. It was considered a state of the art facility, with a design flow of three million gallons of sewage per day.

It was during this time that the City was issued its first NPDES ( NATIONAL POLLUTION DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM ) Permit. It became effective October 3, 1974 and was to be renewed every five years. Advanced testing protocols and methodology were addressed in the permit. It also mandated that the wastewater treatment plant be under the supervision of at least a class III certified operator. Testing and discharge limitations increased with each subsequent renewal of the NPDES Permit every five years.

1989 The implementation of the Industrial Users Pretreatment Program was initiated. Facilities such as New Philadelphia’s wastewater treatment plant had to create an EPA approved program. Under the program, the facility was required to identify and monitor and create “Control Mechanisms” for certain industries as provided for in the implementation of the program criteria.

1974 The wastewater treatment plant was presented an “Award of Excellence” by USEPA Region 5 for outstanding implementation of its Pretreatment Program.

2003 The City is again mandated to upgrade its waste water treatment plant to comply with new standards and limitations. The new facility has a design flow of 4.5 million gallons per day and is to use a different operational design and philosophy.

2004 June 2004, The city’s $9,000,000 upgraded wastewater treatment plant is nearly operational. Some systems still need to be refined. During the past eighteen months many issues have been addressed. The problem of I & I (Infiltration and Inflow ) was a priority in the maintenance of the City’s sanitary collection system. It is very important to address increased flows to the wastewater plant. All the City’s sewer lines have been recorded on video. Problems identified with the sanitary sewer system are being address at this time.

It is anticipated that this new facility will last twenty-five years. In a relatively short period of time, the City’s wastewater treatment system has evolved from basically a non existent one, to one of the most up to date facilities of its type. Just as the wastewater treatment plant has evolved, so have personnel expertise. The degree of expertise required to be in the field of wastewater treatment is proportional to the degree of sophistication of the facility itself.

Researched and Compiled By:

M.Thomas Alpeter

Laboratory and Pretreatment Coordinator

New Philadelphia Wastewater Treatment Plant