Aging infrastructure and changing social and environmental conditions are two factors that are currently pushing wastewater treatment towards more sustainable methods. This thesis investigates what sustainable treatment technologies are being used in the American South through a focused sample of six cities across the region: Austin, Texas; Fayetteville, Arkansas; Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Memphis, Tennessee; Ocean Springs, Mississippi; and Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The study assesses the types of sustainable treatment technology utilized at each facility, the perspectives of wastewater professionals about the technology, and the economic and environmental sustainability of each facility. Data was collected through direct observations on tours of the facilities, open-ended interviews of the wastewater professionals, and use of publicly available budgetary and environmental compliance data for the years 2008 to 2018. Based on the framework of this study, only the Ocean Springs facility was economically and environmentally sustainable. Given the difficulty of defining the term sustainable, however, it is up to each municipality to leverage the sustainable techniques that best fit its wastewater treatment needs.
","abstract_html":"<p>Aging infrastructure and changing social and environmental conditions are two factors that are currently pushing wastewater treatment towards more sustainable methods. This thesis investigates what sustainable treatment technologies are being used in the American South through a focused sample of six cities across the region: Austin, Texas; Fayetteville, Arkansas; Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Memphis, Tennessee; Ocean Springs, Mississippi; and Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The study assesses the types of sustainable treatment technology utilized at each facility, the perspectives of wastewater professionals about the technology, and the economic and environmental sustainability of each facility. Data was collected through direct observations on tours of the facilities, open-ended interviews of the wastewater professionals, and use of publicly available budgetary and environmental compliance data for the years 2008 to 2018. Based on the framework of this study, only the Ocean Springs facility was economically and environmentally sustainable. Given the difficulty of defining the term sustainable, however, it is up to each municipality to leverage the sustainable techniques that best fit its wastewater treatment needs.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Miles, Caroline"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. David M. Cochran, Jr.","Dr. Jerry O. Joby Bass","Dr. Carl A. Reese"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:12Z","subjects":["sustainable wastewater","wastewater","bioregionalism","watershed consciousness","wastewater in southern united states","Environmental Sciences","Geography","Sustainability","Water Resource Management"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/747","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. David M. Cochran, Jr.","Dr. Jerry O. Joby Bass","Dr. Carl A. Reese"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Miles, Caroline"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2020-05-14T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["sustainable wastewater","wastewater","bioregionalism","watershed consciousness","wastewater in southern united states","Environmental Sciences","Geography","Sustainability","Water Resource Management"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/747"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Aging infrastructure and changing social and environmental conditions are two factors that are currently pushing wastewater treatment towards more sustainable methods. This thesis investigates what sustainable treatment technologies are being used in the American South through a focused sample of six cities across the region: Austin, Texas; Fayetteville, Arkansas; Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Memphis, Tennessee; Ocean Springs, Mississippi; and Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The study assesses the types of sustainable treatment technology utilized at each facility, the perspectives of wastewater professionals about the technology, and the economic and environmental sustainability of each facility. Data was collected through direct observations on tours of the facilities, open-ended interviews of the wastewater professionals, and use of publicly available budgetary and environmental compliance data for the years 2008 to 2018. Based on the framework of this study, only the Ocean Springs facility was economically and environmentally sustainable. Given the difficulty of defining the term sustainable, however, it is up to each municipality to leverage the sustainable techniques that best fit its wastewater treatment needs.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Sustainable Wastewater Treatment in the American South"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. David M. Cochran, Jr.","Dr. Jerry O. Joby Bass","Dr. Carl A. Reese"],"dc:creator":["Miles, Caroline"],"dc:date.available":["2020-05-14T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Aging infrastructure and changing social and environmental conditions are two factors that are currently pushing wastewater treatment towards more sustainable methods. This thesis investigates what sustainable treatment technologies are being used in the American South through a focused sample of six cities across the region: Austin, Texas; Fayetteville, Arkansas; Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Memphis, Tennessee; Ocean Springs, Mississippi; and Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The study assesses the types of sustainable treatment technology utilized at each facility, the perspectives of wastewater professionals about the technology, and the economic and environmental sustainability of each facility. Data was collected through direct observations on tours of the facilities, open-ended interviews of the wastewater professionals, and use of publicly available budgetary and environmental compliance data for the years 2008 to 2018. Based on the framework of this study, only the Ocean Springs facility was economically and environmentally sustainable. Given the difficulty of defining the term sustainable, however, it is up to each municipality to leverage the sustainable techniques that best fit its wastewater treatment needs.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/747"],"dc:subject":["sustainable wastewater","wastewater","bioregionalism","watershed consciousness","wastewater in southern united states","Environmental Sciences","Geography","Sustainability","Water Resource Management"],"dc:title":["Sustainable Wastewater Treatment in the American South"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:12Z"}