It was a snowy start to winter in Westfield. Despite the snow and holidays, construction crews still made progress on our new plant. Crews continued placing and installing two new raw water pipes through December. One pipefitter was tasked with climbing inside the 60” pipe to “parge” or seal the seams with concrete. Backfilling the newly installed raw water pipeline before the next snowfall. Indoors, we made progress with optimizing the new Backwash Facility. Specifically, we

During the month of October, crews focused on continuing the excavation south of the existing treatment plant and preparing for the installation of the raw water pipelines that will supply Commission customers now into the future. These two enormous concrete-lined steel pipes will carry water to the new water treatment plant from the new Energy Dissipation Valve (or EDV) that’s nearing completion. The EDV is located at the Sedimentation Basin, which is currently where 40 mill

Now that tie-ins are complete, the excavation area that has been a muddy construction site for months has been neatly backfilled and reseeded with grass. The service road at Gate 3, a road that’s important for operations, has been paved and reopened. Meanwhile, excavation has begun for the permanent 60” pipe and 72” pipes that will carry raw water from the new Energy Dissipation Valve (or EDV) chamber to the new treatment plant. Above, an excavator is stripping overburden sou

In August the first four critical transmission main tie-ins were completed. Treated water is now being rerouted around the project site. This was an important step to complete before the contractor could begin demolishing the slow sand filters. The construction crew completed the final connections to a new bypass pipe to re-route water around the new water treatment plant site. In order to minimize the amount of time that the transmission main would be offline, the crew worke

It was another hot, muggy, stormy month in Westfield with crews working towards demolition of the slow sand filters and complete critical infrastructure to keep the plant running during demolition. Some of this summer’s progress is obvious in the landscape, other developments are hidden underground. Above, crews are removing soil from the top of slow sand filter #18. Tie-in #4, part 1 is complete! Tie-ins are allowing existing treatment to continue during construction by re-r

June was another busy month of construction at the West Parish Filters plant, this time with less rain, but higher temperatures. Our hardworking construction team made steady progress establishing critical tie-ins to keep the water treatment process flowing during demolition of the old slow sand filters. Here’s a look at what it takes to build, connect, these massive pipes. At the beginning of the month, crews fabricated the pipe for tie-in #3. This involved pipe-fitting at a

If this landscape looks lush and green, that’s because it seemed to rain constantly in May in Westfield. We’re working through it, pushing to complete tie-ins before the summer heat arrives. May was a month of painstaking progress, focused on tie-ins. These critical connections are what will keep drinking water flowing during the next couple of years of construction. Once these lines are in service, we will be one step further towards demolishing the old slow sand filters and

Construction activities started to pick up even further in April. Here’s some highlights from the field… Crews relocated the process...

While we prepare for the construction of the New West Parish Water Treatment Plant, the show must go on at the existing West Parish...

Spring may be in the air now, but bitter cold temperatures and icy conditions in February created a formidable working climate at the...

When building a new water treatment plant adjacent to a century-old facility that’s still in operation, a solid Maintenance of Plant...

Snow falls on West Parish Filters in December 2024 (view from Granville Road) Don’t let these scenes of snowy stillness from earlier in...

To say we are grateful for the year we’ve had at the Commission would be an understatement. After years of hard work and planning, we...

Notice anything special about these perfectly formed flying shovelfuls of “dirt” at our groundbreaking celebration on October 16? That’s...

After 10 years of planning & design, the Commission celebrated breaking ground on the new West Parish Water Treatment Plant.

Construction of a new Backwash Facility was completed at West Parish Filters in fall 2023. The project marked the first phase of improvements to modernize the plant. The new facility will allow the Commission to continue to operate the existing filtration system during construction and will eventually tie into the new West Parish Water Treatment Plant. The project included the replacement of existing backwash pumps with more efficient technology and added capacity for redunda