Virtual Tour of Onondaga County Wastewater Treatment Plants (Excluding METRO):
Actual Tour of a Wastewater Treatment Plant
For students, teachers, and others who would like to
visit in person, a free tour of any of WEP's
wastewater treatment facilities provides a unique
opportunity to learn about wastewater treatment—a
vital yet little known environmental field involving
principles of biology, chemistry, engineering, and
physics.
A tour also offers a casual atmosphere where you can ask
questions and learn about WEP, its mission, its
facilities, and the outstanding people who serve our
community.
Please note: Tours, unless otherwise requested, involve a
significant amount of walking and climbing stairs.
Also, as long as weather conditions are favorable,
most of the tour will take place outdoors (even in
winter). Be sure to dress accordingly. Please no high
heel shoes or sandals.
Metropolitan Syracuse Wastewater Treatment Plant
The Metropolitan Syracuse Wastewater Treatment Plant (Metro) provides high quality treatment for
270,000 people and many industrial and commercial
customers in the City of Syracuse and some areas
outside the city in Onondaga County.
Metro treats an average of 84 million gallons per day.
Full secondary and tertiary treatment can be provided
for up to 126 million gallons per day. Metro has a total
hydraulic capacity of 240 million gallons per day
during wet-weather events such as rainstorms.
Area served: Baldwinsville, Radisson, Seneca Knolls, Interstate
Island industrial area, and River Mall.
Treatment: Flexible design allows for activated sludge operation
in either single- or two-stage mode. Current mode is
single stage with the second stage used for polishing.
Pure oxygen is generated on site and used in the first-stage
aeration basins and aerobic digester.
Total phosphorus is removed on a year-round basis,
while disinfection and nitrification are employed
seasonally according to permit.
Area served: Brewerton and Town of Cicero (Lakeshore from Brewerton to Bridgeport).
Treatment: Secondary treatment using contact stabilization
modification of the of activated sludge process.
Design volume = 3.0 MGD (peak = 7.5 MGD). Fine bubble
diffusers are used for the aeration system. Total phosphorus
is removed year-round.
Area served: Portions of Syracuse, Village of Manlius, Village of Fayetteville,
and towns of Manlius and Dewitt.
Treatment: Conventional activated sludge with
phosphorus removal and nitrification. Anoxic zones
added at head end of each aeration tank in 1994 for
filament control to improve settling in final
clarifiers.
Treatment: Advanced secondary treatment of
wastewater using a Biological Aerated Filter (BAF) System and tertiary treatment with Cloth Media Disk
Filters (CMDF).
