Wastewater Treatment Process

It's a long, complicated, and busy voyage for the wastewater that leaves your home everyday. JEA's vast sewer collection system transports over 80 million gallons of wastewater every day to our Wastewater Treatment Facilities, ensuring not only that our community has clean, EPA-approved drinking water, but that one of our most valuable resources will be preserved for future generations. Take a look below for a quick glance at how your water is processed and treated.

Your Home

Each time you flush your toilet, turn on the faucet, or empty a glass in your sink, wastewater leaves your home and heads to a pump station.

Pump Station

Hydraulics lift wastewater up to a higher elevation to continue through more pipes, and then to the another pump station, until the wastewater reaches a wastewater treatment facility.

Headworks

At the wastewater treatment facility, large items such as plastics, flushable wipes and rags are filtered out at the headworks.

Primary Clarification

Wastewater is held in a settling tank where solids (sludge) sink to the bottom, while fats and grease rise to the surface. The sludge is collected to be turned into an organic fertilizer called GreenEdge.

Aeration Basin

The wastewater then moves to an Aeration Basin.

Secondary Clarification

Micro-organisms eat the organic matter in the wastewater as their food supply while simultaneously reducing the Nitrogen levels.

Filtration

Next, the wastewater is filtered to remove any additional matter.

Disinfection

It is then disinfected by 540 4,000 watt ultraviolet light bulbs.

River and Reclaimed Water

Currently, about 14 million gallons of highly treated wastewater - also known as reclaimed water - is sent to customers for irrigation purposes. The remaining water is returned to the St. Johns River.