Town to upgrade sewage system
By
Chance Viles
Reporter
Posted Aug 30, 2018 at 10:24 PM
Updated Aug 30, 2018 at 10:24 PM
TEMPLETON — Construction began this week on the new Pleasant Street
pump station, which is the largest capital project ever undertaken by
the Sewer Department.
Superintendent Kent Songer and the Sewer Department have been working on the new station since 2012, realizing that the current Pleasant Street pump station is too small for the area it’s in, and has numerous issues. The project will cost about $2.3 million. The Sewer Department paid for the project using a number of grants and a loan from the USDA, with costs to Templeton covered by sewer user fees, allowing for the project to get done without any sort of tax increase.
“It’s a big deal for Templeton. There has been years of talking before boots actually got on the ground so to speak,” Songer said. “Soon after his election, (Sewer Commission Chair Mark) Moschetti pushed his fellow board members to commit to the project and get it done as soon as feasible; he has been unwavering in his mission.”
The current station is about 40 years old and services the most sewage out of the total nine pumps in town, covering the Baldwinville and Otter River area.
“The station is almost 20 years beyond its design life and is deteriorated and too small,” Songer said.
The station is too small for the area it services, oftentimes it can barely process the amount of sewage with both of its pumps running during high-flow periods.
Maintenance costs have also grown as the building deteriorates. Repairs cost more because most of the repairs have to be done in the middle of the night when the least amount of water flow comes in. The sewer line and force main that conveys the sewage to the wet well have contrary flows, which causes blockages and backups, which calls for maintenance.
“The pump building, which is a silo, and wet well are located on the United States Army Corps of Engineers land, within the wetlands buffer zone and within a flood zone,” Songer said.
The new pump station will be on town property, out of the flood zone and off federally owned land.
Songer also predicts the new station will be able to take on six
times the amount of sewage as the current station, which will allow for
the town to do maintenance on portions of the station during high-flow
periods, without disrupting the efficiency of the station. The new
station will be able to pump 1,200 gallons per minute, compared to the
old station at 600 gallons per minute.
“Maintenance will also be much easier because things are compartmentalized,” Songer said. “We can be pumping sewage and just take out one part and clear the blockage no problem without skipping a beat, much faster than the way we currently do things.”
Songer and his team also focused on getting high-quality product, so that the station will last longer than the current station was ever predicted to, while taking on more sewage.
“This wet well will last 500 years easy,” Songer said. “It will last longer than our foreseeable lives in this town.”
Songer used the company United Concrete, which he said is known for some of the highest-quality concrete work in the country, and is located in Connecticut.
“It’s important to have this larger station that will last longer,” Songer said. “We accounted for possible changes in sewage, and possible future developments.”
The size and longevity of the building is important as Templeton looks to possibly expand housing in the future, so the station could take on neighborhoods that don’t even exist yet. Also, Songer has noticed a literal change in sewage that makes it harder on old pumps.
“You see a lot more wipes and plastic in the sewage now,” Songer
said. “These things may get obliterated as it’s processed, but then it
reforms and ends up still causing blockages.”
Over the years, more of these waste products are making their way into sewage, and Templeton has expanded.
“You only had to clean the pump a few times here and there and it would cost in the $100s,” Songer said. “Now we have to fix it a couple times a month and maintenance costs us in the thousands.”
Construction on the site has already begun, and Songer hopes that the project will be able to wrap up sometime in November.
Superintendent Kent Songer and the Sewer Department have been working on the new station since 2012, realizing that the current Pleasant Street pump station is too small for the area it’s in, and has numerous issues. The project will cost about $2.3 million. The Sewer Department paid for the project using a number of grants and a loan from the USDA, with costs to Templeton covered by sewer user fees, allowing for the project to get done without any sort of tax increase.
“It’s a big deal for Templeton. There has been years of talking before boots actually got on the ground so to speak,” Songer said. “Soon after his election, (Sewer Commission Chair Mark) Moschetti pushed his fellow board members to commit to the project and get it done as soon as feasible; he has been unwavering in his mission.”
The current station is about 40 years old and services the most sewage out of the total nine pumps in town, covering the Baldwinville and Otter River area.
“The station is almost 20 years beyond its design life and is deteriorated and too small,” Songer said.
The station is too small for the area it services, oftentimes it can barely process the amount of sewage with both of its pumps running during high-flow periods.
Maintenance costs have also grown as the building deteriorates. Repairs cost more because most of the repairs have to be done in the middle of the night when the least amount of water flow comes in. The sewer line and force main that conveys the sewage to the wet well have contrary flows, which causes blockages and backups, which calls for maintenance.
“The pump building, which is a silo, and wet well are located on the United States Army Corps of Engineers land, within the wetlands buffer zone and within a flood zone,” Songer said.
The new pump station will be on town property, out of the flood zone and off federally owned land.
“Maintenance will also be much easier because things are compartmentalized,” Songer said. “We can be pumping sewage and just take out one part and clear the blockage no problem without skipping a beat, much faster than the way we currently do things.”
Songer and his team also focused on getting high-quality product, so that the station will last longer than the current station was ever predicted to, while taking on more sewage.
“This wet well will last 500 years easy,” Songer said. “It will last longer than our foreseeable lives in this town.”
Songer used the company United Concrete, which he said is known for some of the highest-quality concrete work in the country, and is located in Connecticut.
“It’s important to have this larger station that will last longer,” Songer said. “We accounted for possible changes in sewage, and possible future developments.”
The size and longevity of the building is important as Templeton looks to possibly expand housing in the future, so the station could take on neighborhoods that don’t even exist yet. Also, Songer has noticed a literal change in sewage that makes it harder on old pumps.
Over the years, more of these waste products are making their way into sewage, and Templeton has expanded.
“You only had to clean the pump a few times here and there and it would cost in the $100s,” Songer said. “Now we have to fix it a couple times a month and maintenance costs us in the thousands.”
Construction on the site has already begun, and Songer hopes that the project will be able to wrap up sometime in November.
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