Date: Fri 06-Nov-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

sewer-system-Hurley

Full Text:

Sewer System's First Year Has Gone Well, Hurley Says

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

The municipal sewer system, which went into service just over a year ago, is

meeting and exceeding its performance standards, according to Fred Hurley,

town director of public works.

"I think `excellent' is not an overstatement," Mr Hurley said this week of the

Commerce Road sewage treatment plant's performance since September 1997. The

$9 million plant treats wastewater from about 850 addresses in town, and from

Nunnawauk Meadows, Fairfield Hills and Garner Correctional Institution.

Although the town was not required to install equipment to remove nitrogen

from wastewater, it did so in anticipation of the state eventually requiring

such nitrogen removal.

Wastewater denitrification will benefit recreational users of the bodies of

water downstream of the treatment plant, such as Lake Zoar and Long Island

Sound, Mr Hurley said. Removing nitrogen discourages the growth of algae,

which discolors water.

Currently, about 400,000 gallons of wastewater is being treated daily at the

sewage treatment plant, Mr Hurley. The plant is rated to treat almost 1

million gallons daily. Two-thirds of the capacity is designated for the state

and one-third for the town.

Of the 400,000 gallons of treated wastewater, about 220,000 gallons is

discharged by the state and 180,000 gallons by the town.

Garner is a major source of wastewater with an estimated 100,000 gallons

discharged daily, Mr Hurley said.

Much of the water coming from Fairfield Hills is groundwater that has

infiltrated into the Fairfield Hills sewer pipe network through cracked clay

sewer pipes, he said. On rainy days, the amount of water coming into the

treatment plant from Fairfield Hills increases markedly, he said.

During the past year, more than two dozen residents have expressed a sense of

relief to him that with a sewer system in place they no longer have to worry

about problems with individual septic systems, Mr Hurley said.

"A lot of people didn't realize we started ... we're done ... we've been in

operation for a year," he said.

"There have not been a lot of surprises," he said.

Traffic congestion during the construction of the sewer pipe network was held

to a minimum by explaining to sewer contractors what was expected of them, by

having effective police traffic control, and by excavating in high-traffic

areas during the nighttime hours, Mr Hurley said.

The billing system for sewer system fees should be fully synchronized by next

summer, he said.

The town's sewer collection rate has been "pretty good," Mr Hurley said,

noting it has climbed to about 90 percent.

Sewer assessment bills and sewer usage bills are new bills that property

owners haven't had to pay in the past, and which now must be worked into their

individual budgets, Mr Hurley said.

Approximately 50 of the addresses in town required to connect to the sewer

system have yet to do so for various individual reasons, Mr Hurley said.

Following a state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) pollution

abatement order, the town started building a $32.5-million sewer system in

November 1994 to resolve numerous cases of groundwater pollution caused by

failing septic systems.