How to Prevent Your local Wastewater Treatment Plant from Overflowing

Sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) is a real problem, and it’s more common than you may even realize. When untreated sewage is discharged from a sanitary sewer into the environment before reaching the sewage treatment facilities, you know there is a problem. And while these overflows can be caused by a variety of sources, there are some ways to help prevent water treatment plants from experiencing an overflow.

3 Ways to Prevent SSO at Water Treatment Plants

One important thing to understand for municipalities, engineers, and city planners, is that it is illegal to connect stormwater to wastewater systems. This increases the volume delivered fro treatment and can quickly overload local wastewater treatment plants.

Some ways to prevent and identify any potential issues before they cause problems:

  • Dye Testing with Bright Dyes Liquid Dyes – The best form of defense against overflow is stopping issues before they ever start. Liquid tracer dyes have a rapid rate of dispersion and work best for applications involving moderate or large volumes of water.
  • Choose the Right Dye Colors – It is recommended that you use Yellow/Green, Orange, FWT Red, or Standard Blue liquid dyes. These are NSF certified and designed to act as a color label on each drop of water. As the water travels, it can easily be identified on each touchpoint, until it reaches extreme dilution.
  • Use Multiple Colors for Entry Points – One of the best things about using liquid tracer dyes is that you have options when it comes to color choices. By using multiple colors at once you can more easily trace different entry points and see where each pipe is flowing or merging. The fluorescent dye tracers selectively absorb light in the visible range of the spectrum. This allows them to instantly emit light at a longer wavelength than the light that is absorbed.

Ultimately, the use of tracer dyes is going to be the best way to easily track and manage water flow. Water tracer dyes are available in tablets, liquid, powder, and wax to serve a wide range of applications.

When it comes to tracing stormwater and wastewater systems, it is most beneficial to use liquid dyes as they are designed for use in bodies of water larger than 20,000 gallons. As a general rule, 1 pint of Bright Dyes liquid dye will provide a strong visual in 10,000 gallons of water.

All the Bright Dyes Water Tracing products are safe, non-toxic, biodegradable, and certified to NSF International Standard 60. We are committed to water conservation efforts and do everything within our power to provide our customers with the products that help them get their job done quickly and efficiently.