AMHERST — A project to modernize the Centennial water treatment plant in Pelham, which could cost upwards of $11 million, is being supported by the Finance Committee.
The committee recently endorsed spending $692,000 from the water enterprise fund to hire Tata & Howard of Meriden, Connecticut, to begin engineering work for renovating Centennial, which is the oldest of three water treatment plants in Amherst. The spending must still be approved by the Town Council.
“We need to upgrade it and bring it up to speed,” Department of Public Works Superintendent Guilford Mooring told the committee.
Assistant DPW Superintendent Amy Rusiecki said Tuesday that modernization will bring a new filtration technology that is known as dissolved air flotation, or DAF.
The use of this technology will improve operations by reducing the amount of disinfection byproducts from the current water treatment process.
The anticipated costs of the work and the timeline for when it will be done will be determined by the engineering work, Rusiecki said.
Since 2005, town officials have contemplated overhauling Centennial, with Town Meeting several years ago appropriating $4 million. A portion of this was later used to install a sewer line and pump station to take waste from the treatment plant and put this waster into the wastewater system. As part of this work, Amherst also paid to resurface Amherst Road in Pelham.
The improvements are being planned even as Centennial, which normally treats water from the Hills and Hawley reservoirs, is offline, having been struck by lightning. Rusiecki said there has been no urgency to get it back operational this summer.
All of the public water is currently being supplied through the Atkins water treatment plant in the Cushman section of Amherst, which treats water from the Atkins reservoir in Shutesbury, and the Baby Carriage water treatment plant in the Lawrence Swamp area of South Amherst, which treats water from one of five wells. The other four wells in the Lawrence Swamp also provide public water, though have minimal treatment, Ruseiecki said.
Though the Pelham reservoirs not being used, Rusiecki said there is sufficient water and Amherst is not at risk of imposing any water bans, largely due to precipitation earlier in the year
“We are fine now even in this short period of dry weather,” Rusiecki said. “The groundwater levels are good, and the levels are good at the (Atkins) reservoir.”
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.