title = "Wastewater Treatment and Discharge Compliance"

content = """
Ridgecrest Metalworks generates process wastewater from parts washing, surface preparation (acid cleaning, phosphating), coolant system overflows, and equipment cleaning. This wastewater contains metals, oils, pH-altering substances, and other pollutants that must be treated before discharge to the municipal sewer system. Ridgecrest operates under an industrial pretreatment permit issued by the local publicly owned treatment works (POTW).

**Pretreatment permit requirements.** The pretreatment permit specifies numeric limits for discharge concentrations, typically including:
- pH: 6.0–10.0 standard units
- Total suspended solids (TSS)
- Oil and grease
- Specific metals: total copper, total zinc, total nickel, total chromium, hexavalent chromium
- Chemical oxygen demand (COD)

Discharges exceeding these limits are permit violations, even unintentional ones. The POTW can issue fines and require facility shutdowns in severe cases.

**On-site treatment system.** Ridgecrest's wastewater treatment system processes process water through the following sequence:
1. **Equalization tank:** Collects and blends variable influent flows to smooth out concentration spikes.
2. **pH adjustment:** Acid or caustic addition to bring pH into the 8.5–9.0 range for optimal metal precipitation.
3. **Chemical precipitation:** Ferric sulfate or calcium hydroxide added to precipitate dissolved metals as insoluble hydroxides.
4. **Clarifier:** Gravity settling removes precipitated metal sludge from the treated effluent.
5. **Filter press:** Dewaters the metal sludge cake for disposal as hazardous waste (metal hydroxide sludge is typically a listed or characteristic hazardous waste).
6. **Final pH adjustment:** Ensures effluent meets final discharge pH limits.

**Operator responsibilities.** Process operators who work near wash lines or acid cleaning stations must:
- Never batch dump concentrated acid or alkaline solutions directly to the drain—always route to the equalization tank.
- Report any abnormal discharge (unusual color, odor, pH out of range) to the EHS manager immediately.
- Log treatment chemical additions and effluent pH readings in the daily treatment log.

**Stormwater.** Outdoor areas where metal parts, scrap, or chemicals are stored must be covered or bermed to prevent stormwater runoff from contacting these materials. Stormwater that contacts process materials may require a separate NPDES stormwater permit.

Monthly self-monitoring sampling is performed on the final effluent by the EHS team. Results are submitted to the POTW quarterly.
"""

version = "0.0.1"
