Tata & Howard, Inc. is pleased announce the Shrewsbury, MA Home Farm Water Treatment Plant as a Bronze winner for the 2020 American Council of Engineering Companies of Massachusetts’ (ACEC/MA) 2020 Engineering Excellence Award.
Tata & Howard evaluated various treatment options for design and construction of a water treatment facility based on loading rates, removal efficiencies, and estimated costs for removal of manganese. Manganese levels of the Home Farm Wells in Shrewsbury, MA had exceeded MassDEP’s Secondary Maximum Contaminant Level (SMCL) of 0.05 mg/L and the Office of Research and Standards Guidelines (ORSG) Lifetime Health Advisory limit of 0.3 mg/l. Based on the result of pilot testing, Tata & Howard, Inc. recommended biological pressure filtration for removal of iron and manganese.
Tata & Howard, Inc. provided lead engineering services for the design, permitting, funding assistance, bidding, award, construction administration, and resident project representation of a new 7.0 million gallons per day (mgd) Home Farm Water Treatment Plant to replace the existing treatment facility, which did not have processes to remove manganese.

The Water Treatment Plant focuses around biological pressure filtration processes for manganese removal using naturally occurring groundwater microorganisms with minimal chemical addition. Biological pressure filtration offers higher loading rates than conventional catalytic media for iron and manganese removal.
The Home Farm Water Treatment Plant is the largest biological pressure filtration facility in the northeast United States. The Home Farm Water Treatment Plant cost $14,900,000 inclusive of engineering and contingencies, of which approximately $1.2 million was for the biological filters.

Winning ACEC Engineering Excellence Award projects exemplify ingenuity and professionalism and represent the breadth of engineering’s contributions to our everyday lives. Projects display outstanding examples of how engineers connect communities, provide safe and reliable water and energy, and make buildings safe and efficient.


MA (ACEC/MA) for the Long Pond Water Filtration Facility in Falmouth, MA. The award was presented at ACEC/MA ceremony and gala held on March 14, 2018 at the Royal Sonesta in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Engineering-News Record (ENR) New England announced in December 2017, their Regional Best Projects Winners. Methuen Construction, the contractor for the construction of this facility, was awarded two Best Projects awards: Water / Environment – Best Project and Excellence in Safety – Best Project (highest honors). Projects were evaluated on the ability of the project team to overcome challenges, contribution to the industry and community, safety and construction, and design quality.