Chicopee Water Department
PWS ID # 1061000
The Chicopee Public Water System has been an MWRA community since the completion of the Chicopee Valley Aqueduct in 1950. Chicopee is grateful to receive high quality water from MWRA’s Quabbin Reservoir.
Chicopee provides additional treatment to MWRA water from the Brustch Water Treatment Plant. Chicopee now uses sodium hypochlorite (instead of chlorine gas) as a disinfectant. This change was made to increase safety for the treatment plant operators and residents.
The Chicopee Corrosion Control Facility provides excellent water quality by adjusting the water’s pH and alkalinity with sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). A phosphate blend adds extra protection by reducing corrosion throughout the system. These treatments reduce levels of dissolved metals such as lead, copper, and iron in the city’s water supply.
Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, water samples must be tested for lead and copper. The water’s chemistry is adjusted to minimize corrosion well before it reaches home plumbing. Piping materials such as lead solder or lead service lines can add lead to household water. In 2021, 30 lead and copper samples were collected. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reduced the number of samples we must samples collect due to our successful maintenance of low to absent levels of lead and copper. Results were below both the lead and copper Action Levels. The next round of lead and copper samples will be collected in the summer of 2024.
Chicopee has made various water system upgrades and additions in 2023. Approximately 1800 feet of 12” ductile iron pipe, 3800 feet of 24” ductile iron pipe, and 12 new fire hydrants were installed on James Street, as well as 5 new fire hydrants and 14 new domestic services elsewhere in the city. These system upgrades have improved the flow capacity and fire protection, and improved redundancy in the system by eliminating aging infrastructure. Chicopee continued its modernization program for residential and commercial meters. In 2023, we repaired 20 leaking services and 6 large water main breaks. We continue to work through staffing shortages to deliver safe drinking water of the highest quality.
Chicopee has a back flow and cross connection program to enforce the MassDEP mandate to prevent contamination due to backpressure or back siphonage. We surveyed commercial, industrial, municipal, and institutional facilities to identify and eliminate potential cross connections. When a possible cross connection is found or new plumbing is installed, devices such as a double check or “RPZ” (reduced pressure zone) valves are installed to eliminate the hazard. These devices are tested annually or more by certified testers. Among the 1100 back flow devices, 3 devices failed were repaired by owners within 14 days. Public education flyers are distributed in the water bill annually. If you have any questions, please contact the Cross Connection Department at (413) 594-1870. For more information on your drinking water, or to find out about public meetings, please go to our website at: www.chicopeema.gov or call us at (413) 594-3420.
South Hadley Fire District #1
PWS ID # 1275000
South Hadley – Fire District No.1 joined Metropolitan District Commission (now the MWRA) system in 1951. We purchase 100% of our water from the MWRA, which performs all of our water quality testing and has an exceptional support staff for all aspects of water quality.
Our water is treated for bacteria utilizing ultraviolet (UV) light for primary disinfection and sodium hypochlorite for primary and secondary disinfection at MWRA’s Brutsch Water Treatment Facility in Belchertown. Corrosion control and emergency chlorination are done at our treatment facility located on Fuller St. in Ludlow Sodium silicate is added for corrosion control, to reduce lead levels, and to comply with the federally mandated Lead and Copper Rule. We use booster chlorination at our Alvord St. Water Tank seasonally between June and November to maintain chlorine residuals within the distribution system.
Our recent Lead and Copper Rule sampling round was in June 2022, which required testing from 30 residential homes and 2 schools. Our 90th percentile for lead was 8.87 ppb, below the lead Action Level of 15 ppb. No samples exceeded the Action Level for copper. Our next sampling round will be in June 2025 at 30 homes within the distribution system and schools and daycare facilities. We have not found any evidence of lead or galvanized service lines in our system.
We used approximately 360 million gallons of water in 2023. This amount was lower than 2022 due to the exceptionally wet seasons we experienced. We continue to update our water mains based on our replacement program. Replacements are prioritized by leak history, pipe type and the annual DPW street paving list. This collaboration results in reduced costs and extended pavement integrity. We intend to continue replacements as funding and time permit.
Within our water main replacement program, we replaced 1700 feet of 4” unlined cast iron main on Pittroff Avenue with 8” PVC pipe. In addition, we replaced 300 feet of 8”AC pipe on Graves St. with PVC and 300 ft of 8” AC pipe on Warner St. with 8” PVC. Graves and Warner St were upgraded using a grant the Town received for drainage, sidewalk and road improvements. These projects were possible through the coordination of many town departments for which we are grateful. All service connections and hydrants on both streets were also replaced. The new mains will provide reliability and improved fire protection.
The Water Department – Fire District No.1 has been operated very efficiently by providing the rate payers with quality drinking water at the lowest possible cost. Please view our website for information about our Department. Our capital improvement list was recently added outlining our future projects. Our Board meeting agendas and minutes are also available at www.shdistrict1.org. You can also call our office at 413-532-0666 or speak to Jeff Cyr, Water Superintendent at 413-533-4576 or email at jacyr@shdistrict1.org.
Wilbraham
PWS # 133900
The Corrosion Control Facility on Miller Street in Ludlow continues to operate without issue, injecting sodium silicate into the drinking water in compliance with the federally mandated Lead and Copper Rule (LCR). Lead and copper sampling was performed by the Wilbraham Water Department during the summer of 2021 at twenty residential homes. Our 90th percentile for lead was 8.22 ppb, well below the Action Level of 15 ppb, and copper at 84.9 ppb, below the Action Level 1300 ppb. The next round will be this summer. Asbestos sampling was also performed with non-detectable (ND) results for two sites in the summer of 2022. The next round of asbestos sampling is in 2031.
The Water Department eliminated all communication instruments within a confined space pit at the 2.1 million gallon storage tank located on Bartlett Ave. The new location is an above ground, temperature controlled cabinet. Daily maintenance was performed at our Corrosion Control Facility in Ludlow including replacing gaskets and valve assemblies on the Pressure Reducing Valve (PRV), which helped with adequate operation and flow/pressure control.
The Department repaired several service leaks in the distribution system by pulling a new service or performing leak detection to locate and repair the leaks. Numerous new construction homes were built with new service connections; and one 6” water main break was repaired on Craigwood Terrace. We continued installing new water meters to ensure accurate consumption of each household and businesses along with installing remote electronic readers. The water usage for 2023 was 407 million gallons. This represents a 7.4% decrease compared to 2022.
If you would like to learn more about the Wilbraham Water distribution system, please visit our website for more information and for the schedule of our monthly Water Commissioners meeting at: www.wilbraham-ma.gov.