Plant Profile: Improving Efficiency & Reliability in Cohasset, MA

The Town of Cohasset, MA is located approximately 20 miles southeast of Boston and encompasses an area of just under 10 square miles. After making improvements over the past several years, the Cohasset, MA Water Commission solicited a new Operations & Management (O&M) partner and hired Woodard & Curran to provide O&M services for the Town’s water treatment, distribution, and storage infrastructure. This includes operating two water treatment facilities, an interconnect pump station, managing Water Department functions including billing and customer service, and all regulatory compliance activities.

Woodard & Curran’s approach to the operation of Cohasset’s water utility system includes a thorough evaluation of drinking water standards, review of the existing procedures, evaluation of utility processes, the success of the operating strategy being utilized, and the condition of the equipment used to accomplish these activities.

Process improvements provide efficiency

Woodard & Curran is re-evaluating existing seasonal treatment processes at the Lily Pond Water Treatment Facility given the high naturally occurring organic matter (NOM) in the surface water supply. The goal is to implement engineering and operational solutions that allow for efficient operations and the highest water quality. Woodard & Curran is also making improvements to equipment, controls, and SCADA programming to meet MassDEP’s requirements for unmanned operations. This will improve plant performance and save Cohasset costs associated with electrical demand and residuals management.

“These aggressive evaluations at Cohasset’s water treatment plants will ultimately provide operational efficiencies as measured by staff labor and treatment optimization,” said Woodard & Curran Senior Area Manager Paul Roux, who oversees the project. “Taking steps now to create a more streamlined O&M system will ensure reliability and integrity of the treatment plants’ performance, allowing it to meet existing and future requirements.”

Quality and reliability of water supply

The town has a number of options that guarantee reliable water supply. Historically, the surface water supply has elevated levels of organics, which ultimately affects the water quality entering distribution and storage. Woodard & Curran will be implementing standard procedures and protocols for the operations staff to closely monitor, measure, and manage the natural organics as they fluctuate seasonally and with rain and snow melt.

Additionally, Woodard & Curran created a hydraulic water model at the request of the town. This will allow operations staff to manage water age and storage tank turnover more effectively, identify low flow and low pressure areas within the system, and accommodate expansions for new development or growth.

Author

Paul Roux

View All Posts

Scroll back to top of the page