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Farmington sewer commission reviews October operating report, cites strong permit compliance and equipment needs
Summary
The Town of Farmington sewer commission reviewed its October operating report, reporting strong removal rates for BOD and TSS, nitrogen allocations well under permit limits, recent pump and PLC failures, and planned maintenance and equipment purchases that could affect future user rates.
The Town of Farmington Sewer Commission on Oct. 31 reviewed its monthly operating report and heard staff describe strong treatment performance alongside planned maintenance and equipment upgrades.
Speaker 2 said the plant averaged about 2,600,000 gallons per day in normal flow and can reach as high as 6.6 million gallons per day during heavy rain. "Biochemical oxygen demand is essentially food that is in the plant...we removed 98 of that and 98.9% of the TSS," Speaker 2 said, and reported an effluent ammonia of 0.21 and an E. coli reading of 3.14 for October.
The report also covered nutrient limits. Speaker 2 said the plant's nitrogen allocation is 178 pounds per day and the plant has been consistently under that limit — often by dozens of pounds. "We were under the nitrogen per month by 73 pounds," Speaker 2 said, and noted the plant has reduced total pounds processed from about 4,000 in 2023 to roughly 3,100 this year, a decline the presenter attributed in part to producing thicker dewatered 'cake' solids that reduce hauled volume.
Commissioners were told about recent equipment incidents and redundancy measures. Speaker 2 reported a failure of pump 2 at Snowbird Pump Station caused by debris and potential flange corrosion, and a programmable logic controller (PLC) failure at the Corporate Park pump station. Staff said NIC Systems provides spare PLC programming that can be reloaded to restore control quickly. "All our programs here for all the PLCs are reloaded...we literally take PLC off the shelf, plug it in, and we're back up and running," Speaker 2 said.
Planned capital and maintenance items include a scheduled Hydro pump station upgrade now targeted for January, VFP (variable frequency drive) panel deliveries before Christmas, phased UV bulb replacements (about half this year, half later), winterization and preventive maintenance in November–December, and evaluation of a short-term spare inflow pump to avoid service disruptions during peak events.
Operations staff also reviewed routine maintenance activity and small equipment purchases. Speaker 2 described buying a large Cushman mower and testing a lower-cost Xmart demo unit to save money, noting the demo option could reduce immediate equipment costs substantially. The commission was reminded that sewer operations are funded by user sewer bills rather than the general tax levy; Speaker 2 said power costs can exceed roughly $600,000 annually and can drive future rate adjustments.
The commission did not take additional formal action on capital projects at this meeting but confirmed schedules for upcoming maintenance and parts orders. The minutes of Oct. 8, 2025 were approved earlier in the meeting. The commission adjourned after confirming next scheduling details.
