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 thirty years. What was once the butt of jokes concerning unmentionable floatables 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.
Plant Type: Grade 4 extended air secondary treatment.
Owner/Operator: Town of Deerfield, MA
Design Flow: 0.85 MGD
Startup: 1971
Upgrades: 1982; added 60’ 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: 3900
Significant Industrial Users: one, Cains Foods,LP, contributes at least half of the BOD load to
the plant in the making of pickle products, mayonnaise, and BBQ sauces.
Receiving Water: Connecticut River
Average Influent BOD: 325 mg/l
Average Effluent BOD: 7 mg/l
Average Percent Removal BOD: 98%
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 chlorinators, one-ton chlorine gas container, 26,000 gal 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 2-3 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% to 70% topwater removal which leaves us with final sludge between 3.0% and 4.0% solids. Presently, our material is taken to Fitchburg WWTP for dewatering and incineration.
Staff: 3 Full-time; Chief Operator(Grade 6), Operator( Grade 6), Operator( Grade 4, CDL)
Staff is also responsible for the operation of the 0.25 MGD Old Deerfield Treatment Plant.
Contact: Donald E. Chappell, Chief Operator
South Deerfield Wastewater Treatment Plant
Rt. 116
South Deerfield, MA 01373
E-mail: sdwwtp@valinet.com
Tel.: 413-665-2651
Fax: 413-665-0063