Wet Weather Detention Facility
The total captured combined sewage since October 2011:
129.14 Million Gallons
Total Treated and relased from the WWDF to the Elkhart River since December 2011:
3.238 Million Gallons
Goshen’s Wet Weather Detention Facility (WWDF) was constructed in 2011 and is capable of treating 212 million gallons daily (MGD) of stormwater. It is equipped to capture and store a one year/one hour rain event of 1.1 inches. It can also treat up to a ten year/one hour rain event of 1.88 inches. There are 3 pump stations along with a 90″ sewer that deliver flows to the WWDF once the Wastewater Treatment Plant flow reaches the capacity of 12.5 MGD.
Once the flow enters the facility, it goes through 90″ grinders which are the largest currently made. It is then pumped through 4 RCS (raw combined sewage) pumps that are rated at 53 MGD each. The water is treated with Sodium Hyochlorite for disinfection before it travels into 2 tanks that can hold approximately 2.5 million gallons each. If the facility reaches its storage capacity, the water is de-chlorinated with Sodium Bisulfite before discharging into the Elkhart River.
Once a rain event is over and the flow at the WWTP returns to normal, the WWDF then begins to drain back to the WWTP.
When the WWDF is completely drained, residual sediment remains on the bottom of the storage tanks. These tanks are flushed automatically with a flush gate system and each flush gate tank holds 7, 500 gallons. There are 5 flush tanks within each storage tank.