What is considered to be wastewater?

Wastewater is water that has been used during ordinary daily activities: bathing, toilet flushing, laundry, dishwashing, etc. Wastewater is also produced during commercial manufacturing and other industrial processes. This wastewater may contain hazardous materials and require special treatment (also known as pretreatment) before it can enter a municipal water system. If the wastewater is particularly hazardous - for example, if there were large amounts of radionuclides in the water,  it may need to be disposed of in a specific manner. 

Storm water runoff from rain and snow melt is also considered wastewater and either goes into the same system as other wastewater (a combined wastewater system) or is led away by a separate system of pipes. Public sewer is provided to about 35 percent of the households in Harlan County and about 8,800 households use on-site septic systems (as of March, 2000) (1).

How does a combined wastewater system work? 

Combined sewer systems collect rainwater runoff from surfaces like asphalt, concrete, and roofs that don’t absorb water, running sewage and industrial wastewater into the same pipe. Usually there is no problem transporting all that wastewater to the treatment plant. Occasionally the amount of stormwater surpasses the system's capacity. This creates overflows which releases untreated stormwater and wastewater into nearby water bodies. These events are termed combined sewer overflows, and are regulated by the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting program. (2)

If a wastewater system is not designed to handle both sewage and stormwater, it can easily be overcome by too much water coming in through leaks in the system or 

How does a separate storm sewer system work? 

A separate storm sewer system is made up of structures like retention basins, ditches, roadside inlets and underground pipes. These systems are designed to gather stormwater and discharge it, untreated, into local streams and rivers. It's called a separate system because it's not connected to the sanitary sewer system which drains waste water from inside a home to a sewage treatment facility or a private septic system. (3)

What is a septic system? 

A septic system is an underground wastewater treatment structure that is usually found in areas that don’t have access to public sewer systems. It consists of a septic tank and a drainfield. Bacteria in the septic tank digests organic matter. The solids and floatable matter separate in the tank via gravity and time. The liquid (known as effluent) is discharged from the septic tank into a series of perforated pipes buried in the soil where it is treated by natural and chemical processes. (4)

How do I know what kind of wastewater system I have, and why does it matter? 

In Harlan County all public wastewater systems are separate sewer systems (stormwater and sewer are collected in separate lines from sewage). Public sewer is provided to about 35 percent of the households in Harlan County and about 8,800 households use on-site septic systems (as of March, 2000). In some areas sewage leaves a residence or other structure via a ‘straight pipe’. This is where sewage is directly released into a stream or water way untreated and unfiltered. This is illegal and dangerous to the community. 

In Kentucky, the Area Development Districts helps bring together federal, state, and local governments and work with them to bring in and administer funding to water and wastewater systems, as well as helping with community development. (This source summarizes all wastewater systems in the Cumberland Valley Area Development District, (5)