Lewiston Auburn Clean Water Authority (LACWA) has been in operation on Lincoln Street in Lewiston since 1974. At that time, the Clean Water Act was brand new and the Androscoggin River was one of the top 10 polluted rivers in the Country.

Our mission is to protect public health and the environment by treating the residential, commercial, and industrial wastewaters of our communities and returning clean water to the Androscoggin River. We are a quasi-municipal entity with a 7-member board of directors, and just two customers, the City of Lewiston and the Auburn Sewer District. We are the 2nd largest waste water treatment facility in the State, designed to handle a maximum of 38 million gallons per day (MGD). The 14 member team at LACWA is on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, providing uninterrupted service to over 35,000 domestic users, 15 significant industrial users, and over 25 surrounding communities from which septic waste is received. The steady work of treating wastewater and reintroducing clean water into the Androscoggin River is behind-the-scenes, yet essential. The more successful we are, the less the community notices.

Proactive and diligent, we consistently improve our technology and processes to ensure the highest quality outputs. Our work is more than a job: it’s a commitment to safeguarding the natural balance and pristine environment for every resident of our community. The efforts of the LA Clean Water Authority (LACWA) lay the groundwork for a better quality of life, ensuring the cities of Lewiston and Auburn remain a harmonious blend of nature and human development. As we approach our 50th year of operation, it is worth noting highlights over this period:

– LACWA was the first large plant in Maine in the early 1990’s to modernize into computer operation (SCADA) and thereby reduce staffing from 24 hours per day to a single shift per day.

– We have been recognized as a pioneer in the cost saving practice of design/build procurement of infrastructure.

– We have had, and continue to employ employees that have served as President, Treasurer and committee chairs of the Maine Water Environment Association (mewea.org), the New England Water Environment Association (newea.org), and the North East Biosolids and Residuals Association (nebiosolids.org).

 – We host a great number of tours each year from second graders to college students, and we support local schools with environmental                 education and outreach.

– Most facility structures have been well maintained and are still in relatively good shape.

– Over the past 10 years we have updated all major electrical and HVAC, installed new paving, and have been aggressive with concrete repairs.

 – We participated in the beneficial reuse of our biosolids and supported local farmer’s for over 30 years with the recycling of nutrients through our land application program.

– We built and operated a large composting facility in Auburn that provided a cost- effective beneficial reuse of our biosolids that also supported local agronomic utilization for nearly 30 years. This facility is currently mothballed but operationally ready.

– We continue to operate the anaerobic digestion process that was installed in 2013, which reduces our biosolids volume over 50%, and produces biogas which fuels units that produce roughly 60% of the facility electricity, while also providing heat for a number of our process         building

– We have well-managed computerized preventative maintenance system, asset management program and capital improvement plan that ensure we are effectively managing our critical infrastructure.

– We have implemented numerous energy efficiency projects such as LED lighting and motion sensors, variable frequency drives (VFD) on        nearly all motors, HVAC controls, new windows and building insulation, and a multitude of automated equipment operational changes to lower energy usage.

– We have been part of tremendous combined sewer overflow (CSO) abatement efforts over past 20+ years, and will be providing an additional 3.1 million gallons of abatement over the next couple years as part of a CSO project estimated to cost around $30 Million. There are also external facility awards and recognition LACWA has received over the past 50 years, such as:

     • 1990 Consulting Engineers of Maine for Engineering Excellence
     • 1991 American Consulting Engineers Council engineering excellence award for landfill remediation
     • 1994 MWWCA President’s service award
     • 1994 Consulting Engineers of Maine for Engineering Excellence for the Compost Facility
     • 1995 American Consulting Engineers Council engineering excellence award for Composting Facility
     • 1995 JETCC LEE A. Agger Environmental training award
     • 1996 EPA Region 1 Beneficial use of biosolids award
     • 2002 AVCOG Presidents recognition award
     • 2010 National Biosolids Partnership environmental management system certification
     • 2012 New England Organics customer appreciation award
     • 2012 AVCOG environment award for the AD & Energy Recovery project
     • 2014 Maine Governors award for environmental excellence
     • 2015 ACEC silver award
     • 2018 EPA Performance and Innovation in the SRF Creating Environment Success (PISCES) honorable mention
     • 2020 MEWEA Richard Goodenow award.