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Wastewater superintendent reports slip-lining, pump upgrades and generator work; solids handling flagged as top concern
Summary
Wastewater staff said slip-lining has completed about 16,000 linear feet, Old Harbor pump upgrades near completion, SCADA telemetry added and a generator overhaul is scheduled; solids removal and future capacity thresholds were highlighted as critical operational issues.
Wastewater operations remain a priority for town staff, which told the Town Council on Dec. 18 that ongoing slip-lining, pump upgrades and resiliency work aim to reduce infiltration, improve monitoring and secure backup power.
Dylan, the department lead, said the town has completed roughly 16,000 linear feet of slip-lining to address water infiltration and inflow and plans further work over the next five years, primarily funded from sewer reserves. He said Old Harbor pump station effluent-pump upgrades are in final punch-list status but noted variable-frequency-drive (VFD) problems were under investigation.
New SCADA telemetry and ultrasonic transducers now provide remote wet-well monitoring, allowing faster responses to anomalies. Staff also installed bypass piping to maintain flow during pump-station outages.
Dylan said emergency generator work is scheduled: a Milton CAT contractor will complete start-up on Jan. 6, and a second generator is planned for FY2026 with potential January 2026 completion. He emphasized the trade-off of using generators to manage demand charges while weighing maintenance costs.
Operationally, solids handling — removing sludge and transporting it off-island — is the department—s most pressing problem. Current peak treatment approaches of about 310—30 thousand gallons occur once or twice a year; the design threshold noted in discussion was 380,000 gallons, which would require a sustained 90-day overage to change capacity design.
Why it matters: improvements reduce risk of sanitary sewer overflows, increase plant resilience during storms and reduce emergency response times. The council and staff flagged parts procurement lead times and spare-part inventories as ongoing constraints.
