Mass. Group Honors Lynn Treatment Facility
The Massachusetts Water Pollution Control Association (MWPCA) recognized the Lynn Water & Sewer Commission’s Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility as the best large wastewater plant in Massachusetts, presenting the facility with an Outstanding Plant Performance Award recently.
Al Waitt, project manager for Veolia Water (the facility operator), along with Robert Tina, director of Operations for the Lynn Water & Sewer Commission, accepted the award at the MWPCA annual awards luncheon. The award was based on consistent outstanding plant efficiency in the removal of total suspended solids, biochemical oxygen demand and fecal coliform from the community’s wastewater.
“The Lynn Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility was the only plant in the more than 10-million-gallons-per-day category in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to receive this honor,” said Valerie Flaherty, awards chair, MWPCA. “The MWPCA shares the Lynn Water & Sewer Commission’s pride in the effective performance of this vital public service.”
Since 1985, Veolia Water North America has operated, managed and maintained the Lynn Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility, serving a population of more than 85,000. The operator has implemented several unique processes at the facility, including a pressure swing absorption process. A fluidized bed incinerator is used for sludge disposal in an on-site ash landfill. The plant also has a second permitted outfall for use during extreme wet weather events.
“I am honored to accept this award from the MWPCA on behalf of the dedicated staff that operate and maintain the facility on a day-to-day basis as it acknowledges our dedication to superior performance and safety and our goal to have 100 percent environmental compliance within our facility,” said Waitt.
All municipal wastewater treatment plants in Massachusetts are eligible for the MWPCA Outstanding Plant Performance Awards. The association presents awards in three categories based on plant design size and exhibition of excellent plant performance.
The association is a non-profit organization established in 1965 by wastewater treatment plant operators to make available education and training, and to promote the exchange of information among its members so they can be made more knowledgeable and effective in providing excellent water quality throughout Massachusetts.