Wastewater Treatment Facility, Hopedale, MA

Tata & Howard has been working with the Town of Hopedale, Massachusetts for a number of years on a variety of wastewater collection and treatment projects.  When the Town received an administrative order to address copper and ammonia violations at the plant, they turned to Tata & Howard for assistance. We completed the design and construction of a Wastewater Treatment Facility Upgrade project which included the installation of an automated soda ash feed system and an integrated fixed film activated sludge system (IFAS). The IFAS system is an innovative biological treatment process using thousands of special carriers designed to increase total surface area for biofilm growth without expanding the plant’s footprint.  The blowers were also modified to provide better control over the aeration process.

A pilot study was conducted to test the ability of various reagents to facilitate the removal of copper from the waste stream.  An automated chemical addition system was designed to improve coagulation.  Additionally, a dynamic tangential filter was incorporated into the upgrade project.  These improvements have allowed the Town to now meet its discharge limits for ammonia and copper.