Each project required by the Clean Water Act followed specific, often ponderous, EPA requirements, but federal grants normally provided for 75 percent of the total cost, 85 percent in unique circumstances, up from 55 percent prior to the act.

A major part of the entire process was incorporated into two broad studies of the sewerage system. The first one, completed in December 1977 by Shelley-Wilson Consulting Engineers, was the Infiltration-Inflow Analysis which was required to gain approval on a number of grants. The study was done to determine what problems existed and what measures could be taken to stop the occurrence of groundwater infiltration and storm water inflow into the sanitary collection system. Related to that was the direct by-passing of untreated sewage into the Arkansas River that occurred during peak wet periods because of the infiltration, which the EPA forbid. So the study also sought to define solutions for that problem. The analysis was a preliminary part of another review presented in May of 1980 by Shelley-Wilson, A Facilities Plan for Wastewater Treatment for the City of Wichita which detailed further planning and offered an overall presentation of the needed improvements in Wichita's water pollution control.

The infiltration-inflow analysis provided a general description of the sewer collection system. The Wichita area is divided into 13 sanitary sewer districts, identifying individual drainage basins. The first district was the one initially built in 1889. In 1980, 1,100 miles of sewer pipe served the community, covering 72 square miles, more than twenty times the original service area. The overall system was "characterized by lift stations with force mains, river crossings, and inverted siphons," according to the 1980 Shelley-Wilson report.

The study suggested a number of projects to help shore up the capacity of the system. The report also reviewed the wastewater treatment facilities and suggested additions such as the construction of an extraneous flow detention facility to temporarily retain peak flows.

The facilities plan, dated 1979, went even further. Its self-proclaimed purpose was to "determine the adequacy of the existing treatment system under both present and projected future loading conditions to meet current effluent or stream water quality requirements." Once the investigations found where deficiencies existed, it would "identify what actions must be implemented to enable the system to adequately handle future conditions with regard to current federal regulations." The report emphasized that future changes in the law could occur, requiring allowances for additions to achieve higher degrees of treatment, if needed.

The plan included a description of the current system also, with both primary and secondary treatment. Plant 1, which began operation in 1933, provided primary treatment for 88 percent of the total wastewater flow while the remainder was treated at Plant II, built in 1959. A 66-inch concrete transmission line transported the primary effluent to the secondary plant.

In 1968, a number of additions to the secondary plant allowed for treatment of wastewater from the southwest and Westlink areas, enabling the shutdown of several smaller plants.

After analyzing the current structures, the facilities plan prescribed various improvements, as had the previous study. For long-range planning it referred to a document prepared by Professional Engineering Consultants, (PEC), for the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission (MAPC) in 1971, titled The Next Thirty Years, which it described as "a long-range construction planning document for all sewage collection and treatment facilities in Sedgwick County." Several recommendations from that report had been included in Wichita's capital improvement plan or were in the planning stages, but the facilities plan noted that few of the projects were completed, "due to delays in the EPA construction grant program."

It went on to recommend that the existing comprehensive sewerage master plan for Wichita and the conclusions of The Next Thirty Years be reviewed in light of the more recent studies, giving "due consideration to the effects of PL 92-500 and PL 95-217 for fiscal planning." Among the suggestions was the relocation of most Plant I functions to Plant II.

The Infiltration-Inflow Analysis and A Facilities Plan for Wastewater Treatment provided a broad general view of the improvements necessary in the sewer system to meet the federal and state requirements. The process to make all of the changes would be long and costly, but would also serve to improve the capacity and efficiency of Wichita's sanitation network. Incorporating studies with the thirty-year plan provided the city a detailed analysis of short- and long-term perspectives for the system as it grew to provide metropolitan services to much of Sedgwick County.

While the EPA requirements would improve the performance of the collections and treatment of wastewater, EPA regulations often caused significant delays and changes.

An important part of PL 92-500 dealt with sewer rates. Section 204 (b) of the law specified certain conditions for cities to follow to be eligible for federal funding. Specifically, it stated that no grants for publicly owned treatment works would be approved after June 30, 1973, unless the city: "(a) has adopted or will adopt a system of charges to assure that each recipient of waste treatment services within the applicant's jurisdiction, as