Any perception that Marion’s wastewater treatment facility is failing is mistaken, according to Kent Nichols Jr., vice president and wastewater practice leader at Reading-based Weston & Sampson, Inc.
Speaking to the Marion Water & Sewer Commissioners meeting on March 25, Nichols indicated belief that the expensive lagoon cleanup has given the wastewater treatment plant a bad name.
“Some of the things that get in the news would leave the impression that the Marion wastewater treatment facility … is somehow not up to snuff,” said Nichols. “You have a very advanced wastewater treatment system right now … it’s relatively new, it’s highly functional.”
Furthermore, Nichols expects that the “very highly treated effluent – it’s a very clean effluent that goes out” produced by the plant will improve as the lagoon is cleaned up.
Selectman John Waterman asked Nichols to address regionalization in the meeting. Nichols said Weston & Sampson is trying to collect more information and considers a partnership with Mattapoisett or Wareham to be valid, long-term options, but he stressed the quality of Marion’s facility.
Nichols estimates that Wareham’s wastewater treatment facility, even with its upgrade, is not as modern as Marion’s. Once Marion solves its lagoon situation, Nichols considers the facility to be relatively young and of a completely different technology from Wareham’s.
Nichols credited the staff at Marion’s plant for its performance, but made it clear the facility does not take a back seat in the region. He suspects those who hear the talk of a partnership with Wareham might assume the neighboring town’s plant is in better condition. Nichols said that is not the case and that the Wareham plant needs many improvements.
“The plant doesn’t necessarily outperform the Marion plant. It treats more wastewater but not a whole heck of a lot more. The capacity of that plant is about 1.5 million gallons a day, where yours is about .6,” said Nichols.
Waterman asked if the plant’s capacity could increase, but Nichols said the plant’s technology does not favor a higher capacity and that would be better sought via partnership with a neighboring town.
In his resiliency report on the Creek Road water pumping station, Nichols displayed maps addressing the threat of increased flood elevations and a facility design that calls for a submersible pumping station with the control room in an elevated building designed for year 2080 flooding conditions.
Nichols said it is an exciting juncture in the comprehensive plan. Despite slow progress through the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the task of sifting through many prior reports and observing facilities has culminated in a nearly complete draft of the first four sections of the report.
Sections will contain information and projections on future conditions including flows and loads and how future environmental conditions might change. The first three sections of the report will produce a statement of need addressing modernization of facilities, the infiltration-inflow (I&I) program, sustainability and resiliency, capacity, and permitting conditions.
The final design is to be completed in June, which will also kick off a six-month funding application window. Construction contract bidding is to occur in the fall of 2022, to be followed by a one-year construction plan aiming for a December 2023 completion.
The state’s Coastal Zone Management agency is funding the design, according to Nichols. Potential funding programs for construction include FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure & Communities (BRIC), Coastal Zone Management (CZM), Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP), and State Revolving Fund (SRF).
March 24 was the second meeting of the Citizens Advisory Committee; Nichols said the group talked in more detail about the technical aspects of the system. The target date for the next CAC meeting is May 19.
“We’re getting to the very sensitive part here where we have to start making long-term decisions, and obviously one of the challenges that we have in Marion is that you’ve already got a fairly good investment in your system, so we’re trying to make sure that anything that requires further capital investment will actually be able to be done in an affordable way,” said Nichols.
In her Water and Sewer updates, Marion DPW Engineer Meghan Davis reported on the Mary’s Pond well field rehabilitation.
Davis said that some interior and exterior work remains; the end of April is the anticipated completion date. She explained that water from Mary’s Pond well goes to the East and West station site before it goes into distribution. When the chemical feed building is finished, Mary’s Pond water will be activated and work together with the East and West distributions. The construction start-up date for the chemical feed building is July 7, with early winter 2022 as the target to get all three wells up and running.
The engineering firm Tata & Howard is designing and developing Standard Operating Procedures for the Water and Sewer Departments. The focus is for training in an emergency event that makes regular personnel unavailable.
National Water Main Cleaning Company is treating Marion’s main road wastewater infiltration and inflow. The town has invested $190,000 in the I/I work. Year Two work is almost complete with an estimated completion date of April 9. There will be a Year Three investigation by National Water Main.
Davis began by updating the commissioners on the 2021 Fire Hydrant Replacement Program. Three hydrants are being relocated to 17 Dexter Road, 361 Front Street, and 639 Front Street; all three hydrants require insertion valves at $6,000 apiece. The low bid was won by Harwich-based N&M Excavating at $39,300, money that was allocated in 2020. Construction is scheduled to begin in April.
The Mill Street Water Replacement Project is nearly complete, according to Davis. Remaining work to be done next month includes the required mill and overlay and the removal of old fire hydrants that have been replaced.
The next meeting of the Marion Water & Sewer Commissioners is scheduled for Thursday, June 24, at 4:00 pm. The members are the town’s three selectmen, so the Board of Selectmen could become the platform for Water & Sewer decisions.
Marion Water & Sewer Commissioners
By Mick Colageo