MAYVILLE – Progress is being made with the construction of the North Chautauqua Lake Sewer District’s Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements project.
This $3.9 million project is being undertaken in response to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s permit requirements and the Total Daily Maximum Load (TMDL) for phosphorus that has been established for Chautauqua Lake.
“The project is designed to achieve 90 percent removal of phosphorus from the North end of Chautauqua Lake and the Village of Mayville’s wastewater effluent,” said North Chautauqua Lake Sewer District Director Scott Cummings.
The planning and design of the project was handled by O’Brien & Gere Engineers and the construction is by EE Austin, a local contractor.
The scope of work includes new flocculent injection pumps and filters to capture the phosphorus, a new bar screen in the headworks, and a new emergency generator.
“This project is expected to be completed this fall and it is instrumental in upgrading our current system to improve the health and water quality of Chautauqua Lake,” said Chautauqua County Executive George Borrello. “I thank Senator Cathy Young and Assemblyman Andy Goodell for helping the county obtain funding for this project from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Environmental Facilities Corporation and the New York State Environmental Protection Fund.”
“Our normal wastewater flows are 0.5 million gallons per day, but we experience wet weather flows of nearly 2 million gallons per day,” said Cummings. “We are applying for funding from the NYSDEC’s Environmental Facilities Corporation to investigate infiltration and inflow (I&I) into the collection system. I&I is a challenging issue with older collection systems, especially systems constructed from vitrified clay tile pipe. We can save a lot of money by reducing the I&I because it’s much less wastewater that we have to treat.”
“Chautauqua County is aggressively implementing the recommendations of the Integrated Sewer Management Plan for Chautauqua Lake with the implementation of this project and a sewer district expansion project running from Ashville to Stow,” said Chautauqua County Watershed Coordinator Dave McCoy. “Both projects are key to achieving compliance with the TMDL and offer long-term solutions for reducing the excessive weed growth and harmful algal blooms (HABs) that are so problematic in Chautauqua Lake.”
For more information about these and other wastewater initiatives, please contact Chautauqua County Watershed Coordinator Dave McCoy at (716) 661-8915.