A Few Farewell Tours
- jaimyebartak
- Apr 4
- 2 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Two groups of visitors recently became part of history as some as the last tour groups to ever see the West Parish slow sand filters before demolition. Here’s a peek behind the scenes of these once-in-a-lifetime visits.
History Docents Take a Historic Tour
Fittingly, one of these historic final tour groups included a team of History Docents from Springfield Museums and the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History. Their tour highlighted the impressive history of Springfield’s water system, dating back to the 1800s, and the important role the treatment plant played in the early 1900s in Springfield’s development.
Looking towards the future, the Docents were excited to bring what they learned from the tours back to the museum (where we’re told an old wooden Springfield water pipe is on display), so they can provide visitors with an even deeper understanding of Springfield’s history.
Future Water Professionals Explore the Future of Water Treatment
On the heels of the History Docents tour, West Parish Filters welcomed a group of 12 students enrolled in the Basic Drinking Water Treatment Training Course—a course offered virtually in partnership with Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) and Massachusetts Water Works Association (MWWA)—to see the facilities.
The tour was a chance for the students to see firsthand some of what they are learning about in their course, including filtration, coagulation, and disinfection, as well as to witness the growing construction activities for the new West Parish Water Treatment Plant.
The Basic Drinking Water Treatment Training Course, which is a requirement for the Treatment 2 state licensing exam, is an important first step in establishing a career as a water operator in Massachusetts. The Commission offers scholarships to cover tuition and books for this course to members of the public interested in establishing a career in the water sector, with several former recipients now working at the Commission.
The tour also showcased the many different careers at West Parish and the different drinking water licenses required for certain positions. The group of students and their tour guides discussed the new job opportunities that will arise from the completion of the new plant, including more roles for maintenance technicians to keep the new systems running and new drinking water operators with a T3 or T4 license.
Led by Deputy Director of Water Operation Christina Jones, Process Control Manager Elise Tarnauskas, and Project Engineer Benjamin Robich, the tour was also joined by course instructor and MWWA training coordinator Dan Laprade and SWSC Educational Outreach Manager Katie Shea.
We were delighted to be able to welcome these members of the community to bid a fond farewell to our historic sand filters, which have served the Springfield region for 100 years, and to look forward to a new future in the region's water treatment.