The Town of Montague operates the Clean Water Facility (CWF) as an extended aeration facility with two aeration basins for biological (secondary) treatment of wastewater. The CWF was originally constructed in 1962, with a secondary treatment addition in 1980.
The facility operates both aeration basins throughout the year, typically cycling each one on-and-off to maximize nitrification/denitrification. The original aeration blowers and coarse bubble diffusers were installed when a substantial portion of the facility’s wasteload consisted of paper mill pulp waste and the higher blower horsepower and mixing capabilities of coarse bubble diffusers were needed. As the paper mills closed, the facility found that the higher horsepower blowers and coarse bubble diffusers were no longer necessary.
Outdated controls made it difficult for operators to maintain optimal process control parameters in the aeration tanks. With the inclusion of the new master control panel for the blowers, controls can now integrate and maintain crucial process parameters, assisting in better overall treatment and permit compliance.
In 2020, the facility contracted with JK Muir and Wright-Pierce to evaluate potential energy saving projects, where they found that one of the highest returns on capital improvements for energy consumption was to update the aeration systems for both basins. In working with DEP, Montague was able to maximize the utilization of Gap grants to assist with funding the replacement of the aeration system, utilizing Gap II and Gap III funding for the aeration blowers and diffusers, respectively.
The Town of Montague engaged with Wright-Peirce to design the improvements which included replacing the three original blowers (two 100 HP and one 50 HP) with two 75 HP blowers and replacing the coarse bubble diffusers with fine bubble diffusers. It is important to mention that the CWF staff performed the majority of the site work and labor for installation in-house in order to save money on both projects.
The purpose of the Gap II grant was to act as Phase I of the Aeration System upgrade by updating the old centrifugal blowers to new turbo energy efficient blowers. This update would allow for Phase II of the project (which utilized Gap III) to update the diffusers. Design phase on the project was completed in the Fall of 2022, construction phase work began in October of 2024 and the project was completed in April of 2025.
Old 1981 Blowers x3
Demolition of 1981 Blowers
Newly installed Inovair Blowers x2
Old 1981 Master Control Panels
Newly installed single master control panel
Newly installed harmonic filters
