Courtesy / Maureen Grandmaison Photography
The former water treatment plant in Biddeford dates to 1884.
July 5, 2022
New $60M Biddeford water facility pays homage to employee who kept old one running
Courtesy / Maine Water Co.
Kirby Littlefield was recently honored for his 56 years operating the Saco-Biddeford drinking water facility, which was replaced last month by a new plant.
A recent open house to unveil a new $60 million drinking water facility in Biddeford honored a man who had operated the old facility for 56 years.
“Coffee with Kirby” was a low-key way for the Maine Water Co. to honor Kirby Littlefield for his career as an operator of the former water treatment facility that served Biddeford, Saco, Old Orchard Beach and Scarborough's Pine Point.
Littlefield retired on May 12, exactly 56 years after the day he started with the former Biddeford Saco Water Co., straight out of high school.
His first task was lugging pipe across Biddeford and Saco, as the company expanded its service area to communities experiencing a boom is residential growth. He eventually became an operator at the facility on the banks of the Saco River.
The facility was built in 1884 and was operated with knobs, levers and hand-measuring equipment and tools.
Over the years, Littlefield gained a reputation for his encyclopedic knowledge of the treatment processes, the facility’s quirks and the river itself, where water level, storms and turbidity posed challenges.
A sign at the old plant read “WWKD?” which stood for “What Would Kirby Do?"
Courtesy / Maureen Grandmaison Photography
Analog devices have been replaced by digital at the new plant down the road.
In 2012, Maine Water bought the system from the old Biddeford Saco Water Co. and determined the facility, then 128 years old, would have to be replaced due to its advanced age and its location in the flood plain of the Saco River.
A year later, Littlefield told management he’d like to retire. That presented the company with a problem. Until a new all-digital facility could be built, Maine Water needed him as the one person who understood the nuances of the old analog, manual operations. The company asked Littlefield to delay his retirement. He did, and stayed on for just shy of another decade.
“I got my arm twisted,” Littlefield joked during the recent open house.
The new facility is on South Street in Biddeford, less than a mile up the hill from the old plant, and serves roughly 40,000 residents. The replacement, which broke ground in 2020 and is funded with a rate increase, lies outside of the river’s flood plain, eliminating the risk from high waters. The plant began production in mid-June, and will officially be christened at a grand opening ceremony, to be scheduled late this month.
Courtesy / Maureen Grandmaison Photography
The new plant is seen here under construction.
“Coffee with Kirby” was organized by Mike Cummons, Maine Water’s director of service delivery, and Mickey Hall, superintendent of Maine Water’s Biddeford/Saco Division.
“All of the newer people don’t know the idiosyncrasies from way back,” Hall said during the open house. “Kirby built a lot of the processes over there for how we treat water, clean it and get ready to pump it out.”
Courtesy / Maine Water Co.
Mickey Hall, superintendent of Maine Water’s Biddeford/Saco division, stands in the new plant.
He added, “He’s one of the most helpful people I’ve ever met. He’s been an amazing teacher to every one of us. He’s probably the most pleasant person I’ve ever worked with.”
The event yielded some old stories, including one about the flood of 1987, a catastrophic event when the facility was flooded by the Saco River and Littlefield had to row to work. He helped move crucial equipment to an upper floor and the facility kept operating.
Courtesy / Maureen Grandmaison Photography
The old plant was operated with knobs and levers.
At the ceremony, Biddeford Mayor Alan Casavant read framed proclamations and congratulatory sentiments from himself, Gov. Janet Mills, U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree and the Maine Legislature.
Maine Water is a public utility dating to 1880. Its parent company is Connecticut Water, which is a subsidiary of San Jose Water.
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