Systems "Go" at Bloomville wastewater project

MARGARETVILLE, NY, March 23, 2009 - Completion of the Bloomville Community Septic System got another step closer March 11 when a "clean water start-up" was successfully accomplished.

Electrical systems as well as the meters, valves and dosing stations which will deliver effluent to the sand filtration units and absorption beds were tested and found to be functionally complete.

That clears the way for installation of service lines to108 homes and buildings in the hamlet. These "laterals," to be installed in the coming months, will connect to sewage collection mains which were laid in 2008 by F. P. Kane Construction.

The new wastewater treatment system is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2009.

On hand to conduct and observe the clean water test were representatives from Stephen Miller Contractors of Mayfield, NY, which constructed the wastewater treatment system; Emmons Pump & Control of Albany, which provided the pumps and controls for the project; Hinkley Associates of Roxbury, which constructed the electrical systems for the facility; Lamont Engineers of Cobleskill which designed the collection and treatment system for the hamlet; LVDU Operations, Lamont’s operational arm which will run the system for the Town of Kortright; the New York City Department of Environmental Protection which regulates wastewater treatment systems in the City’s Watershed; and the Catskill Watershed Corporation, which is funding the system with a $7,021,000 block grant through its Community Wastewater Management Program (CWMP).

The Bloomville Community Septic System will replace individual on-site septic tanks and leach fields. Raw sewage will be delivered to two 30,000-gallon concrete septic holding tanks where solids will settle out. Liquid effluent will be pumped periodically to sand filtration beds contained in a 172x60-foot barn-like structure adjacent to the settling tanks.

Filtered effluent will then be sent to 12 absorption beds (each 20 feet wide by 144 feet long), for final filtration through gravel and soil, thereby returning the cleansed water to the earth to once again become part of the natural water cycle.

The system is similar to one under construction in the hamlet of Hamden. Both are designed to protect water quality in the West Branch of the Delaware River and its tributaries, which feed New York City’s Cannonsville Reservoir.

CWMP projects have been completed in Bovina and Delancey. Others are underway in Boiceville and Ashland. Plans for three more - in Lexington, South Kortright and Trout Creek - are in progress.

For more information on CWC programs and projects go to www.cwconline.org. Inquiries are welcome Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the CWC’s offices on upper Main Street, Margaretville, Delaware County, and over the toll-free line, 877-WAT-SHED (877-928-7433).