Mile 724.0 - T.E. Maxson Wastewater Treatment Facility

724 T.E. Maxson Wastewater Treatment Facility

If you are paddling past the mouth of the McKellar Lake Harbor and staying left bank at low water you might notice a roaring whitewater feature charging into the Mississippi through a deep rip-rap culvert. This is the outlet of the Lower Water Treatment Facility for the City of Memphis. At medium water it becomes a slurry of frothy commotion you’ll want to observe from a safe (and sanitary) distance. At high-water it gets completely submerged, you won’t see any evidence, but you will still clearly smell it.

According to a City of Memphis Report, The T.E. Maxson Facility treats an average of 70 million gallons per day of wastewater under NPDES Permit #TN0020729. The T.E. Maxson Facility is located at 2685 Steam Plant Road and began operation in 1975. It has gone through a series of major changes over the years. The treatment regime currently consists of coarse bar screens, grit removal, fine bar screens and primary treatment followed by high rate trickling filters, conventional activated sludge, and secondary clarification. Treated wastewater is discharged into the Mississippi River. The primary and waste activated sludge is sent to a covered lagoon system for anaerobic digestion. The digested sludge is dewatered with belt filter presses and the dewatered sludge cake is land applied on-site. The biogas generated by the covered lagoon system is both sold to a nearby utility and flared. (City of Memphis Report)