Sewage (often called wastewater) enters the sewer pipeline network from kitchen, bathroom, and laundry drains in our homes and businesses. Pipes from each house or building connect to a sewer main that runs down the middle of the street – or as it is in many cases in Ruidoso and Ruidoso Downs, down the middle of the Rio Ruidoso.

Sewage flows from each home or business to small-diameter, lateral pipelines that take the sewage into the sewer main pipeline that runs under streets, alleys, the Rio Ruidoso, and other rights-of-way. Sewer main pipelines connect to larger and larger pipelines that eventually become interceptor sewer pipelines, which are the largest pipelines in the Village’s system. These pipelines convey the sewage to the Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant shared by the Village of Ruidoso and the City of Ruidoso Downs.