Amherst is looking at what it would entail to use wastewater for irrigation.
Amherst Town Hall
AMHERST – The town received a $105,527 state grant to study the reuse of wastewater, one of 11 communities statewide receiving money for a variety of water conservation projects.
The grants are from the Sustainable Water Management Initiative, part of the Massachusetts Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Amherst was the only community in Western Massachusetts receiving funding. State officials announced the grant funding Monday.
The town will use the money to determine whether it could use treated wastewater for irrigation at the University of Massachusetts and Amherst College among other possible uses, said Guilford B. Mooring, superintendent of the Department of Public Works.
The study would look at how much water could be saved by using the treated water at both institutions as well as what kinds of modifications Amherst might have to make to its facility to accommodate reusing the water, he said.
They will also look into the feasibility of using the water on town property.
Mooring said.
The Central Heating Plant at UMass currently uses effluent from the Amherst Waste Water Treatment Plant to produce steam for the campus.
Mooring said they are looking at possibly using the wastewater for the towers that cool equipment at the heating plant.
According to information from Edmund J. Coletta Jr., director of the Office of Public Affairs for the DEP, the study will also allow for a further understanding of the “necessary treatment, required testing and licensing, volume potential, and location options.”
And as the town, along with Hadley and UMass are looking at a possible anaerobic digester to be located next to the wastewater treatment facility at UMass, the opportunity for reusing water at the facility will also be explored.
UMass, meanwhile, is holding a public hearing March 27 at 5 p.m. in the Campus Center on the proposal to reuse water for the cooling towers.
According to the UMass website, the campus currently uses about 340 million gallons of water per year. If allowed, UMass would be able to use up to 200,000 gallons per day of reclaimed water, resulting in a potential reduction of potable water consumption of 21 percent.