Division of Water Reclamation Awarded Silver Peak Performance Award

The City of Toledo’s Division of Water Reclamation was awarded a Silver Peak Performance Award from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies for 2019.

The Peak Performance Awards recognize member agency facilities for excellence in wastewater treatment as measured by compliance with their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits.

“This award program recognizes the hard work and commitment to excellence Toledo’s Division of Water Reclamation puts forth everyday on behalf of the environment and our community,” Public Utilities Director Ed Moore said. “Silver Awards are presented to facilities with no more than five violations during a calendar year. We are striving for the Gold Award for our performance this year. It is our goal to protect and enhance public health, property, and the environment through the efficient and progressive treatment of wastewater in compliance with the state of Ohio and national standards.”

The Bay View treatment plant is the largest wastewater treatment facility in northwest Ohio. The facility, which is located near the mouth of the Maumee River, provides treatment services to an approximately 100-square-mile area. About 84-square-miles of the area is located within the city of Toledo. Other areas served by the facility include Rossford, the villages of Walbridge, Ottawa Hills, and Northwood, and portions of Wood County and Lucas County. The population of the service area is approximately 400,000.

The Bay View treatment plant is the center point of the Toledo Waterways Initiative Program (TWI), which completed construction of its final project in August – the Downtown Storage Basin. That marks the end of the construction phase for the program.

“Since the start of the program in 2002, TWI has completed 45 separate projects, encompassing 48-square-miles at a total cost of $529.65 million,” said David Selhorst, TWI program administrator. “This accomplishment means an estimated 650 million gallons of untreated sewage will be eliminated from our waterways on an annual basis – improving the quality of our rivers and streams. With the end of the construction phase, the program now enters the compliance phase. Post-construction compliance monitoring is the final step in the TWI Program.”

The City of Toledo will now begin a 12-month program to collect data on all the facilities functioning within the TWI program. The data will be evaluated and submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to determine if the city has met all of its consent decree requirements.