Greenfield Recorder - $2.8M upgrade at Montague Clean Water Facility underway

The screw pumps at the Montague Clean Water Facility are responsible from moving wastewater from the first level of treatment to the second. STAFF PHOTO/MADISON SCHOFIELD

Representatives for the town of Montague, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey’s office, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern’s office and the U.S. Department of Agriculture pose with the screw pumps at the Montague Clean Water Facility on Wednesday. STAFF PHOTO/MADISON SCHOFIELD

Town Administrator Walter Ramsey speaks about Montague’s wastewater infrastructure needs at the Montague Clean Water Facility on Wednesday. STAFF PHOTO/MADISON SCHOFIELD

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

Staff Writer

MONTAGUE — A $2.8 million project involving a screw pump replacement and other essential equipment upgrades is underway at the Montague Clean Water Facility.

The facility at 34 Greenfield Road was originally built in 1962, according to Clean Water Facility Superintendent Chelsey Little. When an additional plant was constructed in 1979 to provide an extra level of treatment, the town had to figure out how to get the wastewater over to the new plant as it was built uphill from the old one, and screw pumps were installed.

Screw pumps are essentially giant tubes with Archimedes screws inside that can carry wastewater uphill by moving it along the screw as it twists.

“It’s a really old technology used to move water from place to place,” Little said

The screw pumps are an essential piece of treating wastewater for Montague and Gill, Little said. The pumps move about 1 million gallons per day, and if they ever went offline, the facility’s water well would overflow in just two hours before raw sewage begins seeping into the Connecticut River and backing up into people’s homes.

“If they fail — they can’t fail,” said Town Administrator Walter Ramsey.

The screw pumps are about 45 years old — more than their recommended 30-year lifespan. Inspections have revealed considerable wear and tear, including corrosion and mechanical failures, which have decreased the pumps’ efficiency.

Replacing the screw pumps will take about a year, said Roger Barshan, vice president of Associated Construction, the company that will be completing the work.

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It will take about six months for the backup screw pumps that will keep the facility running while the main screw pumps are out of commission to arrive, and then four to six months to actually replace the screw pumps and perform other work.

Associated Construction President Joseph Jankowski said the first step for his crew will be setting up the backup pumps. Once the pumps are ready to take on the town’s flow of wastewater, the company can bring in a crane to remove the old screw pumps, complete repairs to the concrete water well and other equipment, and then install the new screw pumps and new automatic controls.

“Controls are huge because it tell the pumps when to turn on and off. Right now, we’re doing that by hand,” Little said. “I have operators having to come in and cycle and switch pumps by hand.”

If there’s a big rainstorm or if a screw pump experiences mechanical failure, Little has to send someone to manually switch the pumps, no matter what hour of day or night it is.

“I think having them replaced, we’ll all be sleeping a little better at night,” she said.

The project is being funded through a nearly $1.62 million Water and Waste Disposal Loan and a $860,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development program. The remaining $324,000 will come from the town’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.

“Small towns like Montague can’t bear the cost on our own. We need support from programs like the USDA that offer long-term, low-interest loans,” Ramsey explained. “This will allow us to move the plant forward to the future and keep our rates down for our ratepayers.”

Scott Soares, USDA’s Rural Development director for the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, said the USDA is proud to help communities like Montague address their infrastructure needs to protect the environment and public health while keeping cost downs for the taxpayers.

Reach Madison Schofield at 413-930-4579 or [email protected].