The City of Richmond began blending on Friday afternoon, February 28, 2014. Blending is a permitted activity where a portion of the wastewater entering the treatment facility bypasses the secondary treatment process but is still disinfected prior to discharge. During rain events, the sewage flows to the plant increase due to rainwater entering the sewer system. The City's NPDES permit allows the plant to bypass a portion of the diluted wastewater around the secondary biological treatment process temporarily when flows exceed the capacity of the secondary process. Blending event ended March 1, 2014, at 7am.