Sewer System Commissioners Focus on Infiltration Problems

The Commissioners of the Charles River Pollution Control District (CRPCD), the shared utility that handles sewage for Franklin and three other communities, held their monthly meeting at the treatment plant on Village Street in Medway, Wednesday afternoon. Those present included chair Douglas M. Downing from the Town of Medway, vice chair, David C. Formato, Town of Franklin, Clerk Mark Cataldo, Town of Franklin, Commissioner Wolfgang Bauer, Town of Franklin, and Commissioner Michael Callahan, Town of Medway.

At the start of the meeting, CRPCD, Executive Director, Elizabeth Taglieri, reported on the infiltration and inflow programs (I/I) of each town. She said, “overall, everyone has done what was required,” to try to reduce the problem. She said Medway was still confirming their efforts, but each town had set up a flow-metering program in the last two years. She also noted that Bellingham’s portion was “a little different” because they had set up a sewage system built around PVC piping, “so there is not a lot of I/I in their system."

Millis, she noted, has a 9-year plan to rehab piping and is doing a lot of investigating and incorporating their needs in the capital plan.

“This is a great exercise that I want to do annually,” she added. Illegal hookups of sump pumps to the sewer system are also a topic being investigated, she noted.

Bauer asked about the mechanics of the program. “People have to go all out to save some gallonage or you have to buy it (capacity); I know you can read meters to see what is coming in but...I am wondering if we can look at a contract between us and the town to make sure I/I gets done and maybe force governing bodies to do this,” he said. Failure with I/I could lead to raising rates, he warned.

As it stands, he warned, “it is an easy thing to get out of if you don’t want to do it and there is no requirement other than the permit” [the DEP discharge permit for the treatment plant as a whole].

Baur said he has been involved with the I/I issue for 40 years and in addition to sump pumps, worries about roof drains. “People say, they won’t know if I connect it, so we must make progress with enforcement,” he added.

Taglieri noted that the DEP did issue letters to the district and its towns reminding them that they had 10 years to comply.

Downing, for his part, noted the challenging regulatory picture for the area. “DEP and EPA are always throwing new requirements at us; now people will be charged for the square footage of their driveway [the Stormwater mandate]. “CRWA has done a lot to clean up the Charles but that has handcuffed communities, especially those that are contiguous” with the river. “No matter which way you turn someone is going to throw a punch at you,” he added.

Bauer expressed agreement and noted the need to get commitments on I/I.

“If we have water coming in from roofs, at some point we could exceed capacity and have to tell a town like Millis or Franklin, `you can’t flush’,” added Downing.

Has there been any progress on I/I over the last decade, Cataldo asked?  Taglieri said it was difficult to determine, particularly with new connections always being added.

Regarding sump pump surveillance, Downing said he suspected it would be hard to go house-to-house to inspect. “I think this is small potatoes compared to infiltration,” he added. Still, he noted, when a town meter reader goes on a property, they could report on sump pump connections.

Cataldo also noted the scale of the I/I challenge. “You can’t stop the drips in 4000 manholes.”

Joining the meeting by telephone, engineer Kristen Mucciarone reported that she is looking into reducing twice-a-year sampling [related to a former sludge disposal area] that could likely be reduced to annually, saving money, since the numbers had remained “good.”

Taglieiri then touched on flow limits into the Charles and admitted that the facility had recently been above its limits, largely due to heavy rains.

A final item discussed by Taglieri was testing of critical alarms at the facility. She noted that most will be tested twice a year and those involving chemicals will be tested monthly.

The next meeting was scheduled for Nov. 18.