News & Events

The 2023 New England Water Environment Association (NEWEA) conference, held from January 22 to 25, gave water quality professionals an opportunity to meet, share best practices, and celebrate collective achievements in the field. Tighe & Bond engineers were active at the conference, both as presenters and award winners.

Fred Mueller presents to NEWEA 2023 conference attendees on upgrades to the Vernon, CT wastewater treatment facility.

Vice President Fred Mueller, along with Senior Engineer Paul Moran, co-presented with Rob Grasis of the Town of Vernon, CT on a wastewater engineering project in the town. The Vernon Water Pollution Control Facility (WPCF) was one of the last municipally controlled water treatment facilities still using a single-stage powdered activated carbon process. Tighe & Bond’s water engineering team helped the Town design a plan to upgrade to a modernized, 5-stage Bardenpho process designed to remove low-level nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous.

Senior Engineer Austin Weidner guided attendees through several case studies which dealt with the costs of septage treatment. Drawing on experience from previous wastewater projects at Tighe & Bond, Austin explained how utility providers can make informed operations decisions to control their costs. Tighe & Bond Vice President Ian Catlow served as moderator for this session.

Paul Moran presents challenges faced during the Vernon facility upgrades, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and associated supply chain issues.

NEWEA’s 2023 Green Steps Sustainability Award was awarded to Tuscan Village, a mixed-use development project in Salem, NH. Tighe & Bond engineers led the Floodplain Improvement Phase of the project, daylighting an existing stream (removing its buried cover and exposing it to the surface) to create over 3,000 linear feet of natural stream and allow for the development of the project. Landscape architects at Halvorson | Tighe & Bond Studio worked with project staff to design a set of green spaces along the daylighted stream. Max Faro, Project Manager at Tuscan  Village Master Development, LLC, accepted the award on behalf of the project team.

Staff Engineer Isabella Cobble received NEWEA’s 2023 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership Award, recognizing a professional who has promoted the principles of DEI in their profession and community. Isabella is active in NEWEA’s Young Professionals and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committees. She previously co-wrote an article for NEWEA on the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the water and wastewater industry.

Tighe & Bond congratulates the winners of the 2023 NEWEA awards, and we look forward to 2024’s conference!

More Photos from NEWEA 2023