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A publicly owned treatment works (POTW) is a term used in the United States for a sewage treatment plant that is owned, and usually operated, by a government agency. In the U.S., POTWs are typically owned by local government agencies, and are usually designed to treat domestic sewage and not industrial wastewater.
The term is used extensively in U.S. water pollution law (i.e. the Clean Water Act), regulations and programs. Many POTWs were established and/or expanded with grants or low-interest loans from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
There are over 16,000 POTWs in the U.S., serving 75 percent of the total population. The remainder is served by decentralized or private septic systems. The POTWs treat 32 billion US gallons (120 gigalitres) of wastewater every day.