South Deerfield Wastewater Treatment Plant

Located in the heart of the picturesque Pioneer Valley in Western Massachusetts, the Town of Deerfield and the South Deerfield Wastewater Treatment Plant both sit nestled at the foot of beautiful Mt. Sugarloaf. The state reservation atop the mountain boasts of one of the finest views in New England with the Connecticut River snaking its way south past the Holyoke Range, the majestic buildings of UMASS Amherst sprouting up from farmland, quaint South Deerfield center, and the South Deerfield Wastewater Treatment Plant all within ready view.

The South Deerfield facility, along with scores of other treatment plants up and down the Connecticut River, has been instrumental in the cleaning up of New England's longest waterway over the last 40 years. What was once the butt of jokes concerning unmentionable floating objects in the river, is now a fishable, swimmable Class B river. We have much to be proud of as a people for allocating the requisite funds and training the wastewater professionals necessary to get the job done.

Phase 1 Upgrade Project

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Plant Statistics

• Plant Type: Grade 4 extended air secondary treatment.
• Owner / Operator: Town of Deerfield, MA
• Design Flow: 0.85 millions of gallons per day (MGD)
• Startup: 1971
• Upgrades:
  • 1982; added 60 foot circular final clarifier and bypassed two rectangular clarifiers now used for backup only.
  • 1988; added sludge dewatering using a 1-meter belt press.
  • 1997; went to liquid sludge disposal due to closing of the Town landfill.
• Service Population: 3,000
• Significant Industrial Users: None
• Receiving Water: Connecticut River
• Average Influent BOD Loading: 225 milligram per liter (mg/l)
• Average Effluent BOD Loading: 7 mg/l
• Average Percent Removal BOD: 97%

Treatment Processes

Comminutor with backup bar rack, (2) complete mix aeration tanks, 60' Dorr-Oliver circular center-feed final clarifier, chlorine contact chamber, 9" Parshall flume, Regal vacuum chlorinator, 150 pound chlorine gas cylinders for chlorination, 26,000 gallon sludge holding tank, Penn Valley dual diaphragm sludge pumps, one-meter PCL belt press (idle).

Sludge Handling

Sludge is concentrated to 1.5% in the bottom of the circular clarifier by shutting of the return pumps for 2 to 4 hours. We then pump the settled sludge to a holding tank while adding a coagulant en route using two small chemical feed pumps. The flocculated sludge settles and topwater is pumped out with a small centrifugal pump back to the headworks the next morning before our liquid sludge hauler arrives. We average 50% topwater removal which leaves us with a final sludge averaging 3.0% solids. Presently, our material is taken to the Montague WWTP for handling.

Staff

• 3 Full-time; Chief Operator (Grade 4M), Operator (Grade 4M), Operator (Grade 2)
• Staff is also responsible for the operation of the 0.25 MGD Old Deerfield Treatment Plant.

Contact

Eric Meals, Chief Operator
South Deerfield Wastewater Treatment Plant
150 Sunderland Road (Route 116)
South Deerfield, MA 01373
Email South Deerfield Wastewater Treatment Plant WWtpoper1@town.deerfield.ma.us
Telephone: 413-665-2651