City of Rocky River, Ohio

Wastewater Treatment

Overview

Photo of the Rocky River Wastewater Treatment Plant circa 1950

The Rocky River Wastewater Treatment Plant (RRWWTP) was constructed in 1904.  At the time, it only provided primary treatment functionality.  Primary treatment refers to various filtration and sedimentation processes that remove small, particulate matter from wastewater, such as twigs, sand, or ash, from wastewater. 

68 years after the plant’s construction, Congress passed the Clean Water Act which required municipal plants to meet standards for secondary treatment.  Secondary treatment utilizes bacteria to remove organic material from water.  After the bacteria have finished, treatment specialists apply small quantities of chlorine to remove any pathogens or strong odors from the water.  In 1982, local authorities, who purchased RRWWTP from Cuyahoga County that same year, began construction on a major expansion enabling the plant to meet new federal standards for secondary treatment.  At the turn of the century, in 1999, the plant received another major upgrade, this time substantially improving its capacity for primary treatment.

Formation

Despite the fact that the City of Rocky River houses RRWWTP and pays its administrative costs, the wastewater treatment plant currently serves four Westshore cities: Rocky River, Bay Village, Fairview Park, and Westlake.  These four municipalities established their plan for collective, cost-efficient water purification in 1982, the same year they acquired the plant from the county and introduced secondary treatment infrastructure.  As part of the new plan, the mayor of each partner city received a seat on the plant’s management committee.  While serving in this capacity, the mayors work without compensation. Committee members, staffers, and other administrators work tirelessly to ensure that RRWWTP stays up to date with the guidelines set out by both the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) and the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).

 
Alternate photo of the Rock River Wastewater Treatment Plant

Staffing

15 individuals staffed RRWWTP, all of them certified by the OEPA. Each member of our staff specializes in one of the following disciplines:

  • Operations: monitor plant processes and make adjustments to equipment in order to keep the facility operating; cleaning, painting, and landscaping duties.

    • Professional Operator Class III: Ken Gerrick, Dave Goots, Aaron Schwarz, Chris Miller

    • Professional Operator Class II: Mike Jelenic, Matt Purcell

    • Professional Operator Class I: Matt Sowders, George Zimmerman

  • Maintenance: maintain the equipment that is used to treat and convey wastewater.

    • Crew Leader of Maintenance: Jeff Lopez

    • Maintenance Instrumentation Technician: Chris Kobus

    • Maintenance Mechanic: Nate Clough, Eric Heilman

  • Laboratory: run analyses on a variety of topic including total suspended solids, phosphorus, carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand, and ammonia nitrogen; report collected information to the OEPA.

    • Lab and Pre-treatment Coordinator: Paul Skerl

    • Lab Technician: Kelsie Saurber

  • Management: oversee plant operations, laboratory, and maintenance activities to ensure compliance with regulatory standards; develop the annual budget.

    • Superintendent: Nick Barille

    • Assistant Superintendent: Mark Colvin

    • Administrative Assistant: Evangelia Koukouras

 
Overhead photo of the modern WWTP
Alternate angle of the WWTP

Facts & Statistics

Unless otherwise noted, the following statistics draw upon data collected in 2023.

  • Total precipitation for 2023 was 32.96 inches (as measured by the Rocky River rain gauge), which was approximately an 18% decrease from 2024 when the plant received 40.06 inches of precipitation.

  • We treat approximately 13.7 million gallons of water each day. For perspective, that's almost 10 times the amount of water you will use throughout of your entire lifetime.

  • Over the year, we treated over 5 billion gallons of wastewater. That's nearly enough water to fill 8,000 Olympic swimming pools.

  • We use three chemicals to treat your water:

    • Sodium Hypochlorite for disinfection and odor control

    • Sodium Bisulfite for chlorine removal

    • Ferric Chloride for phosphorous removal

  • Sewer flows from each member city as a percentage of total flow to RRWWTP can be visulalized using following chart:

Budget Revenue and Disbursements - 2024

 

Contact Us

Hours of Operation

Another alternate view of the WWTP

RRWWTP is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Should you reach out, we will respond at your earliest convenience.