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| Charles Via, Greater Bluefield Westside Sewage Treatment Plant manager (left, with safety belt) directed a tour of the plant by a group of 20 Bluefield State College engineering technology students. The field trip gave students eyewitness knowledge of treatment processes they've studied in the classroom. |
A group of 20 Bluefield State College engineering technology students recently toured the Greater Bluefield Westside Sewage Treatment Plant during a field trip that gave students eyewitness knowledge of treatment processes they've studied in the classroom.
The field trip is one of several involving trips to area industrial firms, utilities, and agencies. "The Westside Plant, which has just undergone a multimillion dollar renovation, is one of the outstanding treatment facilities in the Virginias," BSC professor of civil engineering technology Alvin Lester noted. "Our students viewed sedimentation tanks, activated sludge processes, secondary clarification, filtration units, chlorination, and dechlorination."
Charles Via, Westside plant manager and 1983 BSC civil engineering technology graduate, directed the students' tour of the facility. "The Westside plant has undergone a significant expansion recently," he noted. "Our capacity has increased from 3.5 million gallons per day to 5.3 million gallons, daily. Additionally, the Westside plant is the first in the United States to use a new underdrain sand filter system. Industry representatives from throughout the country and from England have visited our plant to observe the operation of this system."
"Our students were very impressed with the effectiveness of the treatment processes at the Westside plant," Lester said. "They saw the condition of water coming into the plant, then saw how clear the water was (one part per million/suspended solids) as it left the plant and entered the Bluestone River."
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