WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITIES TO HOST PUBLIC TOURS AS PART OF WASTEWATER APPRECIATION DAY
Facilities Seek to Raise Awareness About the Systems that Protect Public Health and the Environment and Support Economic Development
PROVIDENCE — Governor Gina Raimondo has proclaimed May 20th “Wastewater Treatment Appreciation Day” in recognition of the critical role wastewater collection/treatment systems and the people who operate them play in protecting public health and supporting economic prosperity in Rhode Island and two wastewater treatment facilities will open their doors for public tours this Saturday. The tours, often reserved for students and public officials, will offer a first-hand look at these multi-million dollar facilities, and provide the opportunity to get to the know the Rhode Island men and women that run them. In total, Rhode Island’s wastewater treatment systems purify and discharge about 120 million gallons of raw sewage every day.
Tours will be held this Saturday, May 20th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at:
- Narragansett Bay Commission – Fields Point Wastewater Treatment Facility located at 1 Service Road in Providence. Field’s Point is the largest treatment facility in Rhode Island and the 3rd oldest in the nation. Come see this technologically-advanced and wind-powered facility. Extra credit certificates will be available for students taking a facility tour and refreshments will be on hand for all visitors.
- City of Warwick Wastewater Treatment Facility located at 125 Arthur W. Devine Boulevard in Warwick. Warwick’s facility is mid-sized and relatively young, first treating wastewater from industrial and older residential areas of the City in April, 1965. The City continues to grow its collection area and improve its treatment facility with recently completed new phosphorus removal process and flood levee improvements. For questions about facility accessibility, please contact Superintendent Scott Goodinson at 401-739-4949.
The tours were organized and are being sponsored by the Narragansett Water Pollution Control Association (www.rinwpca.org) and the New England Water Environment Association (www.newea.org) to highlight the often hidden community assets that play a critical role in protecting public health and the water environment and promoting economic prosperity.
Mayor Scott Avedisian, a NEWEA member, extended a personal invitation to visit the City of Warwick’s facility: “I hope people can take an hour or two on Saturday to see for themselves the tremendous system we have in place to treat wastewater and what goes into operating and maintaining that system. Warwick is blessed with respect to water resources. Wastewater Treatment Appreciation Day is a day for us to recognize how critical clean water is in our daily lives.”
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