Industrial Pretreatment

The Industrial Pretreatment Program of the City of Albany protects the environment and Albany's Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) (link to Sewer site) by regulating potentially harmful wastewater discharges from commercial and industrial sources.  By insuring that discharge regulations are met, we improve the ability to treat the City's wastewater and better provide protection to the receiving waters of the Willamette River.  The pretreatment program has been set up to fulfill State and Federal requirements, and our program must pass the scrutiny of Audits from the State Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The program intends to:

  1. Prevent the introduction of pollutants into the City wastewater system which will interfere with the normal operation of the system or contaminate the resulting sludge.
  2. Prevent the introduction of pollutants into the City wastewater system, which do not receive adequate treatment in the POTW, and which will pass through the system into receiving waters.
  3. Improve the opportunity to recycle and reclaim wastewater and sludge from the system; and
  4. Protect the health of the City employees working in the City sewer collection system and at the wastewater treatment plant.

The federal Clean Water Act was amended in 1972 to require that publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) take measures to control industrial discharges that could harm a POTW, interfere with its processes and/or pass through the treatment works to pollute a receiving stream. Pretreatment regulations have since been expanded, and are found in the federal Code of Regulations Title 40, Part 403. Albany's program has legal authority found in the Albany Municipal Code Chapter 10.01.

It is the aim of the program to enlist cooperation with industrial users in meeting pretreatment requirements.  The City will work constructively with industry, including providing information on pretreatment requirements, consistent with the City's responsibility to protect the waters of the state from pollution and the secure the health, safety, and welfare of residents of the City.  Enforcement procedures will be used as necessary to gain compliance from industrial users.

Regulatory activities include conducting inspections of business and industry in the Albany/Millersburg area, issuing permits to discharge when needed, monitoring, and enforcement. Pretreatment personnel also update the Pretreatment Implementation Manual, the Albany Municipal Code, technically based local limits, and the Interjurisdictional Agreement with Millersburg. 

Business Information:

Willamette Basin TMDL

Biosolids Program: