WESTFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – The Springfield Water and Sewer Commission is celebrating its new state-of-the-art Backwash Facility. The $25-million facility marks phase one of the new West Parish Water Treatment Plant, which will modernize the city’s water system.
“We are building a new drinking water treatment plant here at West Parish Filters that will upgrade a lot of our infrastructure and our treatment process to meet 21st-century needs,” said Jaimye Bartak, Communications Manager at Springfield Water and Sewer Commission.
The West Parish Plant in Westfield has been the site of drinking water treatment for the Springfield region since 1909. Upgrades to the site’s sand filters and backwash tanks/pumps will address new drinking water regulations, including for disinfection byproducts.
“Our slow-sand filters, the ones we have currently in use, are from the 1920’s and we use those during peak demand periods. People can also see the present-day treatment process at West Parish Filters which is our 1970’s rapid-sand filters and those again were built for 1970’s regulations at the time,” said Bartak.
The 1970’s rapid sand filters are the newest part of the already existing water treatment process.
Now this new backwash facility will be used to modernize that process along with being connected to the new plant.
Bartak added, “This just improves reliability and resiliency in water quality for our treatment process.”
The new drinking water treatment plant is at 90% design, with construction set to begin in 2024. A public open house of the facility will be held Thursday from 3:00 to 6:30 p.m. to mark Imagine a Day Without Water.
Kaelee Collins is a reporter who has been a part of the 22News team since 2022. Follow Kaelee on X @kaelee_collins and view her bio to see more of her work.
