The Upper Blackstone Water Pollution Abatement District was created by the Massachusetts General Court in Chapter 752 of the Acts of 1968.  Current District members include Auburn, Cherry Valley Sewer District, Holden, Millbury, Rutland, West Boylston, and Worcester.  The District also serves portions of Oxford, Paxton, Shrewsbury, and Sutton.

TREATMENT FACILITIES

The Upper Blackstone Wastewater Treatment Facility initially went on line in 1976.  The original secondary treatment facility was designed for an average flow of 56 million gallons per day (mgd).  Since startup of this facility the District has been asked to achieve more and more stringent effluent standards as the quality of the Blackstone River is improved. 

The District has recently completed over $170 million in plant improvements to help achieve modern environmental standards.  These include installation of improved air pollution controls, construction of a modern landfill, modernized laboratory and administration facilities, enhanced site security, and the first two phases of an ongoing plant improvement project to achieve stringent effluent standards using a sustainable biological nutrient removal process.  The District’s plant is currently achieving a higher standard of performance than envisioned when it was designed.  Our modernized 45 mgd facility is exceeding performance expectations without chemical addition while using less energy than the original facility.  Performance since January, 2010 is summarized here.

In 2009 we initiated a third phase of improvements to improve energy efficiency, provide solar power, and upgrade our solids management facilities.  These improvements will reduce our carbon footprint, upgrade our ability to efficiently manage solids, and enhance our wastewater treatment capability.

the blackstone river

The Blackstone River watershed has an area of approximately 480 square miles.  The River originates at the confluence of Middle River and Mill Brook in Worcester and flows southeast for 46 miles into Rhode Island where it joins the Seekonk and Providence Rivers, which discharge to Narragansett Bay.   The District is actively involved in efforts to fully understand the water quality needs of the Blackstone River and assessing means to achieve pragmatic aquatic habitat and water quality goals.  Working with the University of Massachusetts, we sponsored their on-going watershed modeling to provide a scientific assessment of water quality management options.  The underlined links provide an executive summary, and the full report on management scenarios evaluated to date.