The Ohio Environment Protection Agency approved Ashland's Industrial Pretreatment Program on December 26, 1984. Prior to that time, a successful locally developed program regulated the City's industrial dischargers, resulting in the pretreatment of several effluents. Ashland's Wastewater Treatment Facility utilizes trickling filtration as a secondary process, which by nature tends to promote a very stable plant. Over the many years, sludge disposal has been accomplished by land application of the lime-stabilized sludge. This disposal method has prompted Ashland to concentrate on pretreatment as a method of limiting metals accumulation in our POTW's Sludge.
Ashland's office of Industrial Pretreatments major responsibility is to keep the industrial users in compliance with federal, state, and local laws.