WASTEWATER TREATMENT

 
WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT

Telephone:                   978-374-2382
Facility Manager:      Isaiah Lewis, ilewis@haverhillwater.com
Address:                       40 South Porter Street
                                            Haverhill, MA 01835

The Haverhill Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) is located off South Porter Street, along the Bradford side of the Merrimack River, in the southeast portion of the city.  

Wastewater Treatment Staff is responsible for operating and maintaining the City's wastewater treatment plant. The treatment plant provides primary and secondary treatment for the City's wastewater. The plant discharges the treated effluent to the Merrimack River.

The plant became operational in 1977 and has the following facilities:
  • Screening
  • Grit Removal
  • Primary Settling
  • Secondary treatment using an activated sludge process
  • Disinfection with sodium hypochlorite
Detention time for disinfection is achieved by passing total flow through 1,200 feet of 102-inch outfall pipe followed by 800 feet of 60-inch outfall pipe before entering diffusers that discharges to the Merrimack River.  Primary sludge is processed in gravity thickeners.  Waste activated sludge is thickened in dissolved air-flotation thickeners.  The thickened primary and waste activated sludges are combined and dewatered in centrifuges.
Wastewater Treatment Plant Design Parameters Value
Influent Flow Million Gallons per Day (mgd)   
  • Average Daily Flow
 10 million gallons per day
  • Maximum Daily Flow
 18.1 million gallons per day
  • Peak Flow
 60 million gallons per day

A single pump station pumps all flow from the terminus of the Bradford interceptor to the treatment plant. This station is designed for a peak flow of 60 mgd with 3 pumps in operation and the fourth pump as a standby. Connecting the pump station to the WWTP is a 42-inch force main with a length of approximately 3000 feet.

The Wastewater Treatment Plant is permitted through the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) click here to view the NPDES permit. The permit expires every five years at which time the City has to apply for a renewal. The current permit was issued on January 1, 2020. The permit establishes the discharge limitations for the plant under the Clean Water Act.