EPA Moving to control Industrial Toxic Pollutants with New NPDES Permits

To date, the main thrust of the nation’s water pollution control program has been to abate traditional pollutants (biochemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, and heavy metals). In the future, the Environmental Protection Agency will be striving to control toxic pollutants in industrial discharges. Where reductions in toxic pollutants in industrial discharges are required, they’ll likely be achieved by optimization of existing wastewater treatment facilities, isolation of the toxic chemical at the source followed by separate treatment, process chemical substitution, or house-keeping improvements.