Open house at new water treatment facility Sept. 16

09-04-2010

PAWTUCKET -- The Pawtucket Water Supply Board (PWSB) and AECOM Technical Services, Inc. (AECOM) are pleased to announce the ribbon cutting/open house for the new Pawtucket Regional Water Treatment Facility to be held on September 16 at 10 am. The ceremony will be held at the new water treatment plant located in the rear of 85 Branch Street. The PWSB hired AECOM to serve as the engineer, contractor, and plant operator for the project in 2004. The $45 million construction project was financed through the Rhode Island Clean Water Finance Agency’s State Revolving Loan Fund, administered by the Rhode Island Department of Health. This state-of-the-art plant replaces the PWSB plant in Cumberland that had performed well for more than 70 years but was in need of major repairs and upgrades in order to meet the needs of PWSB’s customers and new drinking water regulations.

PWSB’s customers have noted improvements to water quality since the new plant first started treating water in March 2008. From then until this past June, AECOM completed the final construction steps to improve stability of flow and pressure in the distribution system. This new plant represents the first new municipal water treatment plant constructed in the state in many years and, with a capacity of 25 million gallons per day, is the second largest plant in the state.

Significant components of the project include not only treatment but also new intakes, pumping systems, raw water transmission mains, five million-gallon storage tank, and new laboratory and administrative space. The new raw water pumping station at Happy Hollow Reservoir in Cumberland houses raw water pumps that discharge to two, one mile raw water mains which flow to the new treatment plant in Pawtucket. The new treatment plant has four upflow clarifiers that discharge to eight dual-media filters (granular activated carbon and sand). After filtration, disinfection is provided by ultraviolet light and sodium hypochlorite. The plant’s clearwell provides storage and contact time for disinfection. The five million gallon above-ground tank on site provides supplemental storage. Besides the treatment systems, the project also included a new laboratory and administration facilities within the available space in the existing PWSB administration building.