The Albany County Water Purification District was established by County Resolution 45 of 1968. The District has provided wastewater services since 1974.

These awards show our commitment to excellence and regulatory compliance.

These awards were made possible by the dedication of all District employees which include the operation, maintenance, laboratory, instrumentation and industrial pretreatment staffs.

Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agency

Since 1990, both the North and South Plants have received either Gold or Silver Awards from the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agency, signifying excellence in meeting effluent permit parameters.

Environmental Protection Agency

Our North Plant received the Environmental Protection Agency’s Award for Excellence in Operation and Maintenance of a treatment facility with a flow capacity between 10 and 50 MGD (million gallons per day) in 1990 and 1992. These awards were for Region II which includes New York, New Jersey, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

NYS Department of Environmental Conservation: Operation and Maintenance Award Program

Our South Plant received a certificate of recognition in 1997 for excellence of operation and maintenance in the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's Operation and Maintenance award program.

• John R. Adair, Jr., Chairman
• John W. Bishop, Jr.
• Nicholas W. Foglia
• Dennis Rigosu
• Sean E. Ward

The mission of the Water Purification District is to provide cost- effective wastewater conveyance and treatment for its eight member communities while protecting public health and continuing to improve and protect the quality of the water environment.

Water Purification District operations are funded wholly through user fees and assessments. The District’s activities are directed by a board of five commissioners appointed by the Albany County Legislature. Day-to-day operations are overseen by an Executive Director.

• Issue permits under the Scavenger Waste Program to allow haulers to dispose of waste at the District's facility. A compliance system has been instituted by the District to ensure that all scavenger haulers meet the requirements of their permit. The District realized $753,951 in revenue from Scavenger Waste Haulers in 2013.
• Provide the ultimate sewage sludge disposal for numerous small to medium sewage treatment plants. This service provides the most economical method of disposal for these communities. In 2013, the District realized revenues of $759,044 from sewage sludge disposal.
• The District provides cooling water to Empire Generating in the Port of Rensselaer, in 2013 an average of 2.85 million gallons per day of final effluent was provided, with revenues received of $351,600. The gray water system was commissioned on April 6, 2010 and is the largest productive/beneficial use of secondary effluent in NYS.

The staffing of the District allows most of the work load to be handled in house. The primary reason for this self-sufficiency is due to the separation of departments into Administration, Process Operation, Maintenance, and Laboratory. These individual departments promote professional expertise in many areas. The responsibilities of each department within the District are as follows:

Administration

This department is responsible for overall administration of the District including fiscal aspects, personnel, operation and maintenance.

Process Operation

The operation of all processes and unit operations within each plant are carried out by the process operating staff. Process equipment must perform as efficiently as possible, especially in the solids handling sector, to minimize plant operating costs while maximizing pollutant removals. Process operation is also responsible for most routine maintenance and clean up activities, including groundskeeping.

Training of process operators and our plant safety program is also included under this department. The importance of training and safety cannot be overstated. Training operators to fill vacant process positions and the safety of all our employees benefit the overall operation and cut loss time accidents while eliminating potential safety hazards.

Maintenance

Both major and preventative maintenance of all mechanical, instrument and electrical equipment is the responsibility of the maintenance and instrumentation departments. All maintenance functions for both plants fall under the responsibility of the Chief of Maintenance and the Chief of Instrumentation. The responsibilities of these departments are as follows: Maintenance of all mechanical equipment, metering pits, incinerator control systems and electrical maintenance with the exception of high voltage systems.

Wastewater Management

This department provides wastewater management including input on SPDES and air permit issues and administers the industrial waste control and pre-treatment programs and the laboratory, which is State certified, and runs all of the analytical tests necessary for process control within the plant and reporting to the regulatory agencies. A collection system maintenance crew within this department insures that all dry weather wastewater flow reaches the plants for treatment and carries out the maintenance of all regulators under District control.