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Town engineer asks advisory committee to consider water and sewer extensions; PFAS testing and capacity flagged
Summary
Town engineer Brian Dafosis asked the committee to consider whether the advisory body should gather resident input and advocate for water and sewer extensions; members discussed connection requirements, Manchester's CSO work, development-driven flow increases and the costs and logistics of PFAS/effluent testing.
Brian Dafosis, the town engineer, asked the Bedford Water and Sewer Advisory Committee to consider a broader role in evaluating requests from neighborhoods for water and sewer extensions and whether the committee should collect public input and advocate to private water providers.
"I've been getting phone calls from miscellaneous neighborhoods asking, you know, is water ever going to come into my neighborhood?" Dafosis said, urging the committee to think broadly about planning and coordination with private water companies and the town's roads program.
Members discussed the practical and policy issues raised by extensions: the sewer‑use ordinance requires a property within 100 feet of a sewer main to connect, and staff said extensions often shift development patterns and carry substantial connection costs for homeowners. Committee members also noted Manchester’s major CSO tunnel project and the limits that permit conditions and treatment‑capacity parameters can place on accepting additional flow.
Councilor Michael Strand and others raised long‑term water supply and PFAS concerns. The chair said PFAS effluent testing is technically possible but currently costly—"around about $1,000 a test," staff said—and would be expensive to deploy systemwide on a recurring basis. Committee members said such testing and any required treatment would most likely be borne by state/federal funding or by specific industrial dischargers through permit conditions rather than town enterprise funds.
No formal action was taken; members requested staff include water availability and extension options in the next quarterly meeting agenda and to share the RFP drafts and GIS asset maps for fuller public discussion.
Next steps: staff will produce a targeted agenda item on water availability and possible sewer extension policies for the next quarterly meeting, invite GIS staff for a systems presentation, and coordinate with Councilor Strand on whether the town council wants the advisory committee to take an advocacy role.
