There is more to being a regulator than enforcing regulations. Collaboration was one thing that helped Merrimack (N.H.) industrial wastewater pretreatment manager Roger Descoteaux earn the 2010 Regional Industrial Pretreatment Program Excellence Award from the U.S. EPA.
Merrimack’s 5 mgd treatment plant was designed for a large volume of high-strength wastewater coming from the industrial base in this community of 28,000. Merrimack is one of 13 communities in the state required to have a pretreatment program, although others have established them voluntarily.
“Our pretreatment coordinators group meets two, three, or four times a year,” says Descoteaux. “We discuss regulations, case studies, pretreatment
