Penn has also taken efforts to recirculate water. The new mod-6 chiller system reuses approximately 1.5 million gallons of water. The amount of wastewater generated by Penn is assumed to equal the amount of water consumed minus the amount water reused or 9,997,994,500 . The campus wastewater is treated at the Southwest Water Pollution Control Plant. The plant uses a three step treatment process including preliminary, primary and secondary treatment.
Preliminary treatment remove debris by virtue of bar screens and grit chambers.
Finally, secondary treatment uses biological processes to remove contaminants in an aeration and final sedimentation tank. Before discharged into the Delaware River, disinfection is used to remove pathogens from the water. Penn has no added costs for treating campus wastewaters. The charge for sewer is incorporated into the price of water usage. The University has no programs to reduce wastewater volume.