The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency regulates discharges from Butler County wastewater treatment plants to ensure the receiving rivers and streams are safe for the environment and public health. The county must meet extremely stringent water quality standards — standards unattainable without the combined efforts of a multitude of businesses and their strict control of the wastewater they discharge.

This award is given to those Significant Industrial Users connected to the county’s sanitary sewer system that have consistently met all applicable local, state and federal operation and discharge standards and requirements.

• The user must have met the EPA definition for a Significant Industrial User and have been in operation and permitted for the entire permit year.
• The SIU must have met all permit sampling and reporting requirements during the permit year.
• The SIU may not have discharged any pollutant or pollutant characteristic that negatively affected the collection or treatment system, or that caused a pass-through or interference during the permit year. 

Attaining all effluent quality standards requires more than just a properly designed, operated and maintained pretreatment system. A carefully designed and executed spill and slug control plan is important, requiring training and participation throughout the organization. Significant time and attention must be devoted to all permit sampling and reporting requirements. Compliance also is determined through unannounced sampling and inspections by county staff. Those SIUs that have met the Excellence in Pretreatment Award criteria have rightly earned and deserve the award.