Waste Water Facility History

In 1794, General Anthony Wayne built Fort Defiance on the site of the confluence of the Maumee and Auglaize Rivers as a base for military operations. The transition from outpost to trading settlement was highlighted by the completion of the Miami and Erie Canal in 1829 and the Wabash and Erie Canal in 1845. Railroads began operating through Defiance in 1852 and by 1860 had replaced the canals as the primary source of transport.

The First Sewers
Before the end of the nineteenth century, the first sewers were built. These sewers were constructed to simply move domestic waste away from populated areas. As was common practice during those days, the sewers were designed to handle both sanitary wastewater and storm water. The effluent from the combined sewers did not end up at a wastewater treatment plant but was discharged directly into the Maumee and Auglaize Rivers. This practice of sewage disposal continued until the 1950’s.(Photo shows Installation of the Auglaize River inverted siphon-1956)

Treating the Influent in the 1950's
In the early 1950's, significant growth in the City's population caused a noticeable increase in the amount of pollution in surrounding rivers and streams. The serious health hazards resulting from the excessive amount of pollution prompted the City to build an interceptor sewer to collect the flow from the combined sewers and a primary treatment plant to partially treat the sewage. The system was completed in 1956 at a cost of more than $2 million. (Photo of plant construction-1955)

Updating the System in the 1960's
In 1962, the City developed a comprehensive plan to construct new sanitary sewers in unsewered areas and update and relieve overloading in the existing system. The wastewater treatment plant was expanded from primary to secondary treatment to meet the growing demand for clean water. Aeration tanks and final settling tanks were constructed at the plant, along with additional sludge handling and effluent chlorination facilities. This project was completed in 1969.

Improvements During the 1980's
By the 1980's, it became apparent that many of the water pollution control facilities constructed in the 1950's and 1960's were in need of rehabilitation or replacement. Continued growth in the City and surrounding area created a need for additional sanitary sewers. There was also a need for renovations and improvements at the wastewater treatment plant to restore process equipment that had been in use for 20 to 30 years to maintain plant reliability and to meet more stringent discharge requirements. The improvements were completed in 1989 at a cost of $11,711,000.

The 1980’s project included the new Preston Run interceptor sewer and associated lateral sewers; the new Preston Run Pump Station; renovation of 4 existing pump stations constructed in 1955; reconstruction of all 32 combined sewer overflow regulators and 11 regulator outfall sewers; and installation of a new telemetry system to monitor the operation of 13 pump stations. Other major renovations included the rebuilding of the sludge lagoons and the addition of modern computer controls for many plant processes.

The Project - Year 2000 Improvements
In 2000, a $7.5 million expansion and improvements project was completed. The expansion increased the average daily flow capacity of the plant from 4.0 million gallons per day (MGD) to 6.0 MGD and provided for ammonia removal. In addition to meeting the increased needs of the present service area, the expansion will enable the City to provide service to neighboring areas of Defiance County, including the Village of Ayersville. Provisions for ammonia removal were needed in order to comply with the latest National Pollution Elimination System (NPDES) permit requirements. Photo: new aeration basin-1999)

As part of the project, two new biological (roughing) towers were constructed in order to provide for improved biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) reduction. A new settled flow diversion chamber (SFDC) and pumping station were constructed to direct the primary settling tank effluent to the biological towers or to the aeration tanks. A new aeration tank, as well as the two existing aeration tanks, were provided with an efficient fine bubble aeration system to allow the nitrification process to occur (ammonia removal). One new primary settling tank and one new final settling tank were also added to accommodate the increased plant capacity.

Other improvements included chemical feed facilities for caustic soda, four new air blowers, replacement of four existing return activated sludge (RAS) pumps, three new RAS pumps, and improvements to the dechlorination system to improve efficiency. Three 4.5-MGD dry well submersible pumps were replaced at the 9.5-MGD Kingsbury Pumping Station to improve reliability and reduce operation and maintenance requirements. The existing monitoring and control system at the plant was updated to accommodate the changes in the plant processes and capacity and the new operating software. Electrical improvements include a second 12,470-volt electric service to the plant with automatic switchover of utility service in the event of power failure. Sixteen variable speed drives were added to provide better process control and energy-efficiency. Loans from the Ohio EPA Water Pollution Control Loan Fund and the Ohio State Issue 2 Program helped finance the project.