Superintendent William C. Lyon,
Northfield Public Works Department
As Northfield was being settled in the late 1700s and early 1800s, residents used outhouses for waste disposal (see example at right). Some of these were located outside the structure and some were inside. As time progressed, running water was introduced into homes and it became necessary to dispose of liquid waste.
Homes located close to a brook or river simply ran a pipe from the house to the brook. Others used a cesspool, which was a hole in the ground that was lined with rock where the waste would settle and the liquid percolate into the soil.
As Northfield grew, it became necessary to install a collection system that was piped to the river. These systems were installed in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
An attempt to treat a part of the system was installed in a field west of the railroad tracks at the end of Railroad Street. This system used settling basins and sludge pits.
In 1966, the Village of Northfield constructed a new wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) north of the Village to collect the wastes. This modern facility would grind and separate the solids from the flow and pass the waste over a trickling filter. This allowed bacteria to further reduce solids. The wastewater then was disinfected before returning the flow to the river.
This facility served well until new technology and environmental concerns required an upgrade in 2002 (at left is an aerial photograph taken during construction). The upgraded WWTF operates two (2) sequential batch reactors that remove solids, provide chemical treatment of phosphorus, and equalizes the flow and disinfection. This facility works well and continually meets state and federal permit requirements.