Water & Sewer Authority (WSA) members are reviewing a 67-page report prepared by the agency’s consulting engineers on the need to expand sewage pumping capacity at the Sandy Hook Center sewage pump station at 5-A Glen Road.

The pump station is one of four such stations that power the central sanitary sewer system, which started operation in 1997. A 240-square-foot building that sits on an 0.11-acre lot has two pumps that are used to pump sewage westward and uphill along Church Hill Road via a pressurized force main to the town’s sewage treatment plant on Commerce Road.

Past development in Sandy Hook. coupled with the prospect of new users there connecting to the sewer system, require that the Sandy Hook station's pumping capacity be increased, according to the WSA.

In its report to the WSA, which was reviewed at a January 10 meeting, Fuss & O’Neill recommends that the existing two 25-horsepower pumps in the pumphouse be upgraded to two 72-horsepower pumps. The engineers also recommend that various related plumbing improvements be made at the pumphouse, as well as safety improvements. Also, a new, more powerful electrical generator should be installed to replace the existing generator, according to the engineers. A new generator, which would be larger than the existing unit, likely would need to be installed outside the pumphouse due to its larger size.

Fuss & O’Neill lists the construction cost of the various improvements it recommends as approximately $400,000. That figure does not include related costs.

WSA members questioned the cost estimate for the work provided by the firm. Also, questions were raised on the specifications of the recommended equipment.

Fred Hurley, director of public works, said January 16 that a Fuss & O’Neill representative would attend the February 7 WSA meeting to answer WSA members’ questions about the project. Also, WSA members plan to ask the town finance director about the best method of paying for the pump station improvements.

The three other pump stations in the central sewer district are located at 47-A Hanover Road, 33-A Taunton Lake Drive, and 17-A Baldwin Road. The Sandy Hook station is in a commercial area, with the other three stations located in residential settings.

Mr Hurley has noted that twice in the past the Sandy Hook pump station almost overflowed with wastewater. In one case, the Newtown High School swimming pool was drained and all the pool water rapidly traveled through the sewer system, nearly flooding the pumphouse. In the other case, a major grease blockage in the sewer system was located at Newtown Shopping Village at 5 Queen Street, and when the blockage was cleared, a great volume of wastewater traveled through the sewer system, again nearly flooding the pumphouse.

The Fuss & O’Neill engineering study addressed topics including hydraulics, extreme wastewater flow situations, pump performance, and how to best reduce peak wastewater flows.

Due to the varied topography of the central sewer district, gravity-powered sewers and pressurized sewers are used. Gravity sewers allow wastewater to drain downward to pump stations where the wastewater is then pressurized and directed upward via force mains to the sewage treatment plant at Commerce Road.

The town started operation of the central sewer system in 1997, at the urging of state environmental officials, to resolve longstanding groundwater pollution problems caused by many failing septic systems.