The mission of Little Rock Wastewater is to provide low-cost, safe, high quality sanitary sewer service to the residents of Little Rock, and through planning, support the orderly growth of the City. Our overall objective is to preserve the health and well-being of the residents and the environment.

Proper collection, treatment and disposal of wastewater is vital to the health and safety of the community. At Little Rock Wastewater, we ensure that the water that goes down your drain has a safe destination. Liquid and solid waste comes to LRW for transport and treatment after water is used in homes and workplaces. The water is cleaned, processed and released after exceeding the current water quality standards.

We have 250 employees who:

• Maintain over 1,200 miles of public sewers.

• Serve over 63,000 homes & businesses.

• Operate an administrative office and a maintenance facility in west Little Rock, two wastewater treatment plants in east Little Rock and 31 pumping stations.

The Little Rock Sanitary Sewer Committee governs the LRW, and is comprised of five citizens who are appointed by the Little Rock City Board of Directors. The City Board establishes sewer rates and approves certain financial matters, including the issuance of bonds.

LRW is committed to providing excellent quality sewer services for both residential and business customers as it keeps water resources safe for wildlife and human reuse. The employees of LRW are a group of dedicated professionals who work to provide a safe and clean environment for our City. Their goal is for citizens to take top-notch service for granted. We are recognized as a leader in the State of Arkansas. Numerous awards have been received from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Association of Metropolitan Sewage Agencies.


A History of Service
For the first half-century of its existence, Little Rock residents depended on a creek called Town Branch that ran through the center of the City to carry away wastes. As Little Rock grew, Town Branch became nastier and more prone to flooding. At the same time, the germ theory had been developed and scientific evidence mounted that Town Branch was a source of disease.

In the early 1880s neighborhood improvement districts were created to build a rudimentary sewer system, and these districts formed a hodgepodge of disposal systems all emptying into the Arkansas River. During the Depression, the federal government provided the financial means for Little Rock to build a real sewerage system governed by a committee of civic-minded residents. In 1937 the Municipal Sanitary Sewer System employed 12 people.

Treatment of sewage before it went into the Arkansas River did not come to Little Rock until the 1960s when the Adams Field Treatment Plant came into service. Growth and federal government demands in the 1970s overwhelmed the City’s sewer systems. Little Rock’s problems were exacerbated by unrelenting growth pressures west and southwest of the City. To cope, the City constructed new lines to serve the growth areas, diverting the last 20 percent of its raw sewage from the Arkansas River to the Adams Field Treatment Plant, and starting construction on a second treatment facility, the Fourche Creek Treatment Plant. Overflowing manholes caused by rainwater and groundwater infiltration continued to plague the system, however, and the new Fourche Creek Treatment Plant proved to be an engineering catastrophe.

LRW was reorganized in the mid 1980's with the arrival of a new manager and management team in 1984 and 1985. The Fourche Creek Treatment Plant was redesigned and rebuilt, and both it and the Adams Field Facility came into compliance with pollution control permits.

A 10-year program to eliminate overflows by curtailing infiltration was completed, and progress was made on preventing problems from occurring with a goal of providing and operating a trouble-free sewer sewerage system its customers can take for granted. Today, more than 250 employees manage 1,203 miles of public sewers serving 63,000 homes and businesses. Our newest treatment facility, The Little Maumelle Treatment Plant, will be completed and in operation in 2009.