Buffalo Sewer Authority

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Buffalo Sewer Authority

• David P. Comerford, General Manager
• 65 Niagara Square
• Room 1038Buffalo, NY 14202(716) 851-4664

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History of the Buffalo Sewer Authority

• When Buffalo was established as a village, all
  waste was disposed in adjacent bodies of water.
• In the 1890s, health officials agreed that the
  pollution to the adjacent bodies of water was
  responsible for many diseases, most notably,
  typhoid.
• Because of persistent pollution on the Niagara
  River, Canada and the US entered into a treaty in
  1909 to protect boundary waters.

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History of BSA (contd)

• In 1935, the New York State Department of Health
  mandated the City of Buffalo to stop polluting
  the Niagara River with waste. Because the city
  was in financial turmoil at the time, a new
  authority was created the Buffalo Sewer
  Authority.
• By 1938, the Authority completed its system of
  intercepting sewers, and built its primary
  treatment plant on Bird Island where all city
  sewage was treated.
• The 1960s and 70s saw stricter sewage treatment
  regulations, leading to the construction of
  secondary treatment facilities, completed in
  1981.

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Administrative Department

• Prepares operating and capital budget
• Establishes sewer rents
• Bills and collects all sewer charges, including 8
  service contracts from Erie County, Cheektowaga,
  West Seneca and Sloan.
• Supervises accounting and payroll

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Administrative Offices
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Sewage Treatment Department

• Provides treatment for 550,000 users in Buffalo
  and various towns and villages in Erie County.
  The department is broken down into the following
  seven divisions
• Primary and secondary treatment
• Incineration/Boilers
• Maintenance
• Pump Stations
• Industrial Waste services
• Laboratory
• Yards and Grounds

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Administration Building
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1) Primary and Secondary Treatment

• Primary treatment is accomplished through
• Influent screening with 2 coarse bar racks
• Six raw wastewater pumps
• Additional screening with 6 fine bar screens
• 8 vortex grit removal tanks
• 4 primary sedimentation tanks

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Traveling Bar Screen
Raw Waste Water Pump
Primary Sedimentation Tank
Vortex Grit Removal
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Primary and Secondary Treatment Continued

• Secondary treatment consists of an
• activated sludge system that incorporates
• Five settled wastewater pumps
• Sixteen aeration tanks
• Sixteen final sedimentation tanks

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Aeration Tanks
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Primary and Secondary Treatment Continued

• Sludge from primary and secondary treatment is
  pumped to sludge disposal facilities that thicken
  the sludge and digest it, creating gas that is
  used in the process.
• Sludge is then dewatered by a centrifuge and
  incinerated.

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Sludge Thickeners
Digesting Tank and Sphere
Centrifuge
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2) Incineration/Boilers

• Run and maintain a 7 day a week, 24 hour a day
  incineration system that burns 50 dry tons of
  sludge per day.
• Run and maintain all heating, ventilation and
  cooling systems at the treatment plant and
  outlying pump stations.

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Sludge Conveyor
Incinerator
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3) Treatment Plant Maintenance

• Repairs and maintains all process equipment,
  utilities, buildings and grounds at the
  Wastewater Treatment Plant.
• Repairs and maintains 10 remote pumping stations
  and one wastewater metering station.

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4) Pump Stations

• Ten outlying pump stations pump sewage through
  the collection system at various points in the
  city.

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Pump Station
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5) Industrial Waste Services (IWS)

• Approximately 180 industries are permitted to
  discharge waste into BSA sewers.
• IWS operates a pretreatment control program that
  regulates this waste according to Environmental
  Protection Agency standards.
• IWS collects and analyzes samples from permitted
  industries to ensure compliance
• IWS will warn and fine violators.

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Grease Trap
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6) Laboratory

• Monitors the performance of the Treatment Plant
  to ensure compliance with the New York State
  Department of Environmental Conservation.
• Collects and analyzes samples at various points
  in the process on a daily basis.

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Laboratory
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7) Yards and Grounds

• Staff maintains buildings, yards and grounds for
  Treatment Plant and outlying pump stations.
• Plows snow and shovels walks for all grounds
  during winter.

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Yards and Grounds
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Sewer Maintenance Department

• Sewer Patrol Unit makes daily inspections of
  overflow chambers, manholes and combined sewer
  overflows.
• Sewer Repair Unit repairs, adjusts and cleans all
  sewer and storm lines and appurtenances.
• 24 hour, 7 day a week Complaint Crew responds to
  citizen complaints.
• The Television Inspection Unit televises sewers
  for blockages and cave-ins and all deficiencies
  that need to be addressed.
• Vehicle Maintenance Unit maintains the Authority
  fleet of over 70 vehicles.

Emergency Complaint 883-1820 ext. 601
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Maintenance crew on the job
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Engineering Department

• Maintains, processes and files all records,
  plans, maps and permits pertaining to sewer work
• Prepares contract drawings and specifications for
  sewer collection system projects
• Coordinate all phases of construction with
  consulting firms and contractors including
  preparation of contract documents, inspection and
  verification of payments.

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Engineering