When someone in the watershed runs water into a sink, turns on a washing machine, or flushes a toilet, this wastewater is conveyed to an on-lot septic system or to a series of pipes that eventually connect to a wastewater treatment plant. Most of the homes and businesses in the watershed are within one of five Sewer Service Areas. Potter Township operates the Country Club Park Sewer Plant, which discharges a relatively small volume (<20,000 gallons per day - gpd) of treated wastewater into the headwaters of Cedar Run. The University Area Joint Authority (UAJA) serves most of the Centre Region and discharges on average more than 5 million gallons per day (mgd) of treated effluent into Spring Creek. The Penn State University system serves the university campus and a small portion of the Borough of State College; it treats more than 2 mgd of wastewater that is spray-irrigated on to agricultural and forest lands. The Bellefonte Borough Authority serves the Bellefonte region and discharges more than 2 mgd of treated wastewater into Spring Creek. The Mid-Centre County Authority serves the Borough of Milesburg and it discharges about 700,000 gpd of treated effluent into a tributary of Bald Eagle Creek.
This section will provide articles that describe Penn State University’s system, the UAJA system, and the Bellefonte system. And, another article will explain how on-lot domestic waste systems work and their role in the watershed.
Articles: