When the requirement for secondary treatment went into effect in 1992,
primary treatment plants in Anacortes, Wash., could not meet the permit limits.
Just three operators ran the two plants, one built in 1954 and a smaller one built in the 1960s. In 1992, Anacortes upgraded to secondary treatment with a single plant to treat the entire flow. The city also built three new pump stations to bring wastewater to the plant, and added a few more pump stations as the city grew.
Today, the plant has nine operators, and the collection system has 23 pump stations. The plant easily meets its CBOD,
