Village of Saugerties

Description

The Village of Saugerties operates a wastewater treatment plant located at 111 Dock Street.  In the past several years the wastewater plant has seen a number of upgrades to have it meet and exceed expected future demands.

The Saugerties Wastewater Treatment Plant started out as very simple operation.  Before 1980, there was only a primary settling tank and some sludge drying beds.  The effluent from the settling tanks would be chlorinated and released to the river.  The solids were sent to the drying beds, where they were dried and then removed.

In 1980 there was major re-construction of the plant, involving the installation of many new processes.  For example, new grit chambers were installed.   (These are considered primary treatment, in which the sand and heavy solids that were carried to the plant are removed before treatment of the remaining waters.)  Primary settling tanks were added to settle out the suspended solids.  Rotating bio-contractors were installed as a  secondary treatment, to further remove the finer solids from the liquid.  Secondary settling tanks were also installed to settle out the solids from the secondary treatment.  Finally, before allowing the waters to be discharged into the river, the waters would be chlorinated to kill all bacteria.

The collected solids from the process are pumped into a thickener and thickened and fed into a digester system where anaerobic bacteria further break down the waste. A by-product of the anaerobic digestion is methane gas which is used to heat the primary sludge to a year round temperature of 96 degrees Fahrenheit. Finally the solids are pumped to a belt press and the water is removed and the solids are placed into a trailer and travels to a certified landfill where the product is made into types of fertilizers.

Today, the Village of Saugerties Wastewater Treatment Plant can process up to 1.3 millions of gallons per day of liquid waste, with over 400 tons of solids removed per year.  The daily operation of the plant and the collection system is accomplished by 6 dedicated people:

• Sarina Augustine, Plant Operator
• John Ingrassia, Part time Operator
• Joe Hunter, Belt Press Operator / Mechanic
• Mike LoPinto, Maintentance
• Louis Kolbe, Wastewater Collection System Maintenance
• Jacob Dodd, Plant Operator Trainee