Middle Gate Water Treatment Unit In Place

By Tanjua Damon

When an expected permit from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is issued, the Middle Gate School community will be able to use the water at the school thanks to a treatment unit that will help clear out the excessive uranium that was found in the school’s water supply.

Newtown Public Schools Building and Grounds Supervisor Dominic Posca reported to the Board of Education Tuesday night that permission from the State Department of Health has been received to use the unit made by Lowry Engineering, which will be online by mid-July. But the school system has to obtain permission from the DEP before beginning to use the system because about 500 gallons of water will go back into the septic system every six months, Mr Posca said. K-Life, a drinking water purification additive, will also be used in the holding tank.

Newtown tests all the wells throughout the district every three months to check for any inconsistencies or problems, according to Mr Posca.

The first test last October alerted school officials that Middle Gate School had elevated levels of uranium. The results from the October test showed water at Middle Gate to have 211 pCi/L. A second sample was taken on December 27, 2000. The results show that although the levels are down, 139.33 pCi/l, they were still well above the EPA guidelines of 30 pCi/L.

The purification unit made by Lowry Engineering of Blue Hill, a Maine firm, costs $6,400, according to Mr Posca. The use of K-Life should not cost more than $300 each year.

As school officials get the uranium problem taken care of at Middle Gate, well tests from Newtown High School show elevated levels of cooper and lead. When the pH level goes down, it tends to corrode the copper pipes, Mr Posca said.

The state has recommended that the school use bottled water, according to Mr Posca. The two wells used at the high school are not that deep. One is a 42-foot well that provides 42 gallons of water a minute, while the second is 62 feet deep and provides 22 gallons a minute. Unfortunately, to fix the problem is not cheap, Mr Posca said. The district is looking at different ways to remedy the problem, but for now bottled water will probably have to be brought in to serve the high school.

In other board business at the meeting Tuesday night, Director of Business Ron Bienkowski reported to the board that the school district had locked in a fuel price for the upcoming school year. The district will be paying just over 83 cents for fuel and just over 86 cents for diesel. The price last year was 83 cents, according to Mr Bienkowski. The school district hopes to save just over $15,000 from the scheduled fuel price.

Mr Bienkowski also presented the preliminary year-end financial report to the board. It looks like there is $59,439 remaining, which the board approved would be used to purchase the Sandy Hook modular classroom units.

The biggest financial pressure this past year came from special education, Mr Bienkowski noted. For the third year in a row, the district had to come up with almost $200,000 for tuition placements. Electricity was another area that was under budgeted and required an additional $102,000. Fuel oil and diesel fuel also needed $94,000.

The budget shortages were identified early, Mr Bienkowski said. Delaying some hirings, holding expenses, and transferring project balances funded them.

The next Board of Education meeting will be August 14 at the district offices in Canaan House at Fairfield Hills.