The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is a political subdivision of the State of Missouri. The charter for its structure was drafted by a Board of Freeholders and approved by the voters of St. Louis City and County in 1954. The District was originally charged with the twofold responsibility of collecting and treating the wastewater generated within its 230 square mile area and to develop a stormwater management program. A voter-approved annexation in 1977 increased the service area of MSD to 524 square miles.

The interests of the citizens are represented by the six-member Board of Trustees, which sets the policies governing MSD through the adoption of ordinances. These ordinances are usually introduced during one monthly meeting and adopted at the following monthly meeting. These meetings are open to the public and citizen input is encouraged. Of the six board members, three are appointed by the Mayor of the City of St. Louis and three are appointed by the St. Louis County Executive.

In the course of protecting the water resources of its 1,400,000 customers through the control of stormwater and the treating of wastewater, the District provides the following services:

• Wastewater Treatment
• Sanitary Sewer Maintenance
• Stormwater Sewer Maintenance
• Floodwater Control
• Pump Station Operation & Maintenance
• Monitoring of Industrial Waste
• Issuance of Pretreatment Discharge Permits
• Engineering Design and Specification
• Construction of Sewer Lines
• Plan Reviews and Approvals
• Issuance of Connection Permits

With improved methods, technology and training, these services are performed with a workforce of less than 1,000 employees to operate the 14 treatment plants (averaging a flow of 345 million gallons per day); to monitor the industrial waste at 1,056 facilities; to maintain 287 pump stations and more than 8,400 miles of sewer lines. This includes the administrative support staff necessary to process customer emergency calls, review plans, issue permits, maintain a project database, survey sites, acquire easements, design new or improved sewers, bill customers, prepare financial reports, and research and write grant proposals.

To perform these necessary functions requires an extensive range of products and services to assure efficient and effective completion of all of the above. The District is committed to the utilization of all segments of its customer base and therefore is working actively to identify and remove obstacles limiting opportunities for broad-based economic benefits.