The Wastewater Treatment Plant is staffed by seven full time employees. Daily operating hours are from 7:00 A.M. until 3:00 P.M.
The general service area of the Shippensburg Wastewater Treatment Plant includes the Borough of Shippensburg and several adjacent municipalities. These adjacent municipalities are members of the Cumberland-Franklin Joint Municipal Authority which, by agreement will, discharge wastewater from the municipalities to the Shippensburg Borough Authority’s facility. The adjacent municipalities include: Orrstown Borough and portions of Southampton Township (Franklin County), Southampton Township (Cumberland County), and Shippensburg Township. The service area is drained to the Conodoguinet Creek by Middle Spring and Mud Run Creeks.
The general service area is largely residential, with several commercial and industrial areas. Manufacturing is the largest industry group; however, their contribution to wastewater flow is less than 10 percent of the treatment plant design capacity.
The Wastewater treatment plant was designed to serve a projected 1995 sewer service area population of 21,000. Included in this figure is a Borough population of 8,500, a Joint Authority population of 8,000, and a university population of 4,500.
The selected process utilizes a combination of biological, physical, and chemical treatment processes known as a 5-stage Bardenpho process. We are currently working through an upgrade project to incorporate IFA’s (integrated fired film Activated Sludge) as the main biological treatment process. Solids generated by these processes are mechanically thickened, anaeribically digested and de-watered on a belt filter press prior to disposal at an approved site.