Given the last couple of years’ turnover in the memberships of the Mattapoisett River Valley Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee and District Commission, the commission thought it best to ask Koch representatives to reboot its presentation on the water treatment plant project when they visit the committee/commission on Tuesday, January 12.
Addressing the commission at its December 8 meeting, Tata & Howard Associate Jon Gregory spoke about Koch Membrane Systems’ Puron technology.
“It’s a new technology in Massachusetts, but a similar installation where they replaced two old Targus stages in a facility in Texas in 2018,” said Gregory, noting that things at the Texas facility are going well as it works in a series with two Puron stages.
With more questions on the new Puron system, Gregory wants to send questions to Koch by January 7 at the latest.
“They’re available and in favor of providing any additional information that we would like,” said Gregory, who will try to set up what will amount to a subcommittee call with Koch before Christmas.
Paul Howard, co-founder and senior vice president at Tata & Howard, told the commission that there are no reserve pumps with the Puron system, calling it a “totally different technology,” offering annual savings in the $70,000 to $80,000 range.
The commission is still discussing materials with an eye on tweaking some of the costs and, at the same time, trying to be sure that pipes are durable as well. Howard said stainless steel is no longer the industry standard but a requested upgrade.
Member Paul Silva asked Gregory if he has asked Koch if another community is at the same stage that Koch is with the MRV District. “I’m very hesitant to get involved with something we don’t have enough background on. I’d just like to have a lot more comfort than I do right now,” said Silva.
Gregory said he had not had that specific discussion.
Howard said Koch, based in Wilmington, has applied a membrane technology from treating juices. “I believe this technology is superior to what we have now. I don’t think you should be that concerned,” he said, noting that Littleton is home to the first membrane-ozone plant in the country.
Megan Davis of Marion gave the commission’s Treasurer’s Report with $77,212.86 in invoice totals. That included total chemicals at $7,257.74. Eversource, she explained, had its last billing period in September that the commission paid in full, so the current period covers October and November with two bills totaling $51,592.54. The commission only paid $30,311.04 of that. “We’re not behind by any means; we’re up to what we’ve used,” said Davis.
Other figures reported included a $17,945.39 ECA credit, $7,657 in maintenance and repairs to Station No. 6 and Koch tech services, and $10,494.70 for Tata & Howard’s combination of FY21 operations and RO8 project.
The commission voted to accept the Treasurer’s Report and pay the invoices; the commission also voted to accept the FY22 Budget.
The committee’s Treasurer’s Report included an ending balance on December 1 at $190,990.32. Deposits totaled $19,279.37, including Mattapoisett’s assessment of $19,267.50. Invoices totaled $4,380.05, the lion’s share an invoice from the Tata & Howard engineering firm.
Water-level monitoring in the Mattapoisett River has proven to be costly. Alluding to questions Silva had asked on the matter of the monthly $5,000 expense for the collection of data, member Laurell Farinon noted in the committee portion of Tuesday’s meeting that the MRV Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee is all about collecting data on the Mattapoisett River, whereas the MRV Water District’s Commission’s concerns are the water treatment plant and the water-quality side. Meantime on the reporting side, Tata & Howard is working to reduce all of the data.
“It’s really most necessary for the district,” said Farinon, defending the $5,000 figure for data collection and presentation. “I think that the monthly monitoring and the graphing is something this committee would do anyway, but it really comes down to the annual reporting, not just for this committee but for the district. If it’s five or six grand … I’m just defending what the annual charge is.”
“We could argue that it is being split evenly, they’re paying ($5,000), and we’re paying ($10,000),” said Chairman Vinnie Furtado, in this instance speaking on behalf of the committee as opposed to the commission that he also chairs.
Farinon said it is something the committee wants to continue with, especially the monthly monitoring.
The next meeting of the MRV Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee and MRV Water District Commission is scheduled for January 12.
MRV Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee/District Commission
By Mick Colageo