Site Selection Underground: What Industrial Companies Should Know About Wastewater

In industrial site selection, one of the most overlooked but increasingly critical factors in evaluating a potential location for manufacturing is wastewater infrastructure. Site Selection Group, a full-service location advisory, economic incentives, and real estate service firm, understands that wastewater can be a make-or-break factor in selecting a new industrial site. Whether you’re in food processing, chemicals, advanced manufacturing, or biotech, your site's ability to manage and treat wastewater effectively can impact timelines, public perception, upfront capital investment, operating costs, and long-term viability. 

Understanding the difference: Sanitary sewer, industrial wastewater, and stormwater

When planning for wastewater infrastructure, it’s important to distinguish between three commonly confused systems:

• Sanitary sewer systems handle wastewater from domestic sources, such as restrooms, sinks, and breakrooms.
• Industrial wastewater (or industrial effluent) is water discharged from manufacturing processes, which may contain chemicals, biological contaminants, or other regulated substances.
• Stormwater systems are designed to collect and convey rainwater or runoff from paved surfaces and rooftops, often through a separate drainage network.

Industries competing for wastewater infrastructure

Industrial sectors producing high volumes of wastewater or with complex discharge profiles face growing challenges. Food and beverage operations must manage organic loads and other matter. Pharmaceutical and biotech facilities contend with stringent contaminant thresholds. Meanwhile, semiconductor and high-tech manufacturers may deal with heavy metals and ultra-pure water reuse needs.

Publicly owned treatment works are increasingly limited in available capacity, and local opposition to new discharges is on the rise. In many areas, it’s not just about whether infrastructure exists but whether the system can evolve to handle the volume and characteristics of your effluent.

Know your wastewater profile early

Before launching a site search, it’s critical for industrial users to understand their wastewater discharge profile, including volume, temperature, biological or chemical discharge content levels, and potential contaminants. This data determines what level of treatment is necessary, what type of discharge permits may be required, and whether local systems can support your operation.

Failing to assess outflow characteristics on the front-end can lead to costly surprises, delays in permitting, or even disqualification of otherwise promising sites.

Discharge options and regulatory hurdles

Depending on the location, your discharge path could include:

• Connection to municipal treatment systems
• On-site pre-treatment with final discharge to public infrastructure
• Direct discharge to rivers, streams, or lakes via National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits
• Use of settling ponds, on-site septic tanks, or lagoons (especially in remote areas)

Each option comes with different capital costs. Community opposition also plays a growing role. Facilities seen as potential polluters, especially those with visible or odorous effluent, may face public scrutiny, especially in areas where environmental justice concerns are prominent. Public outreach and transparency early in the process are no longer optional — they’re essential. Much like raw water sourcing, wastewater permitting can involve a complex mix of federal, state, and local rules. The Clean Water Act governs National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) discharge permits, but local regulations can add layers of complexity. Many states have a delegated authority to implement NPDES permitting, while others do not require direct permitting from the EPA. Some states have more business-friendly approaches, where industrial dischargers can work closely with regulators for faster approvals, often via delegated permit programs or pre-treatment agreements with municipalities.

Keys to site selection success: Strategy, planning, and partnerships

Early engagement with regulators

Engaging state and local environmental agencies early can streamline your permitting process and uncover creative solutions, significantly reducing both permitting timelines and capital expenditures. Early alignment with regulatory expectations also helps avoid redesigns or costly delays later in the project.

Proactive wastewater planning

Designing with wastewater in mind from the beginning is key. This includes evaluating reuse potential, modular treatment systems, and low-impact discharge options. Many successful projects include on-site pre-treatment to reduce reliance on municipal systems. Reuse strategies, such as converting once-through cooling to recirculating systems, can reduce both water intake and discharge volumes, improving sustainability and lowering operating and permitting costs.

Community and economic development partnerships

More jurisdictions now offer incentives or partnerships to help fund wastewater infrastructure improvements. Forward-thinking economic developers are investing in industrial parks with shared wastewater facilities or upgrading local publicly owned treatment plants to attract manufacturers. 

Comparing regional wastewater capacity and constraints

Wastewater capacity varies widely by region, driven by factors like aging infrastructure, regulatory limits, and competing demand. In many fast-growing areas, treatment plants are at or near capacity, making it costly and time-consuming to support new industrial users. Significant upgrades can be expensive, ranging upward into the tens of millions of dollars, with permitting timelines stretching from one to three years.

Communities must weigh the trade-offs of allowing high-demand users to consume most of a system’s available capacity, potentially limiting future development. Some municipalities require capacity reservations or developer contributions to infrastructure improvements.

Regions like the Midwest and Southeast often benefit from more robust infrastructure and lower treatment costs, while the West and coastal areas typically face tighter constraints and higher regulatory hurdles. In response, some places invest in industrial parks with dedicated pre-treatment or reuse systems to ease the load on public infrastructure and speed up permitting.

Conclusion

Wastewater isn’t just an operational detail, it’s a key piece of an industrial manufacturer’s site selection strategy. Identifying areas with adequate infrastructure, clear permitting processes, and partnership-friendly economic developers can reduce risk and speed up your go-to-market timeline. Site Selection Group understands these challenges and has experience helping manufacturers navigate wastewater management solutions.