Farmington staff report strong treatment performance, grease backup traced to Five Corners restaurant

At the Town of Farmington’s regular meeting on April 26, staff member Mark presented the wastewater treatment plant’s March operating report and said the plant averaged almost 5 million gallons per day with a daily peak of 9.1 million.

Mark reported the plant achieved 94% removal efficiency for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), 98% for suspended solids and 82.2% removal for nitrogen. He added the plant was 2.5 pounds under the monthly nitrogen permit limit, noting that high flows due to rain can raise calculated pollutant pounds even when treatment performance remains steady. "We had 94% removal efficiency for BOD and 98% for suspended solids," he said.

The report noted ultraviolet disinfection equipment was brought online this month and phosphorus is under permit for this reporting period; Mark said readers will see UV results on next month’s summary. He also told the board that, after several consecutive years of being below permit for nitrogen, the state now buys nitrogen credits from the town for other plants that exceed their permits, providing modest annual revenue compared with earlier years when the town paid for credits.

Operations and maintenance items dominated much of the presentation. Staff described a trip at the Snowberry pump station in March, where crews cleaned check valves and flushed the wet well and identified a corroded O-ring on a discharge flange that sprays when the pump starts; crews plan to bypass and replace the component during a scheduled outage. Staff said the collection system includes 17 pump stations (potentially up to about 20 with planned additions) and roughly 170 miles of piping, and that most operational problems stem from pump stations and debris in lines.

A backup reported at 381 Cole Highway was traced to heavy restaurant‑style grease in a manhole. Staff investigated and followed the line toward Five Corners; they identified the nearby restaurant Rebel Dog as the likely source and said the restaurant responded promptly, having its private line cleaned. Staff recommended more frequent interior grease‑trap cleanings and noted that FOG (fats, oils, grease) inspections were recently completed at Butchers and Bakers, George Pizza, Discover Village and Farmington Gardens in Riverbend.

Staff also described a March 17 weather‑related power blip and the installation of a new external automatic transfer switch to allow quick connection of a towable backup generator. On March 24 a high‑level alarm at High Road resulted from a failed PLC/field screen; crews replaced the PLC and restored operations within about 15 minutes and plan to add an ultrasonic transducer and program updates so the station retains redundancy even if primary electronics fail.

Regarding capital work, staff said meetings with Holeser Construction are complete for the Yukon pump station upgrade and installation is planned to begin once delayed discharge piping arrives; PLCs and variable frequency drives are already on site. Other maintenance in March included running ethone pumps, replacing a fuse in a fermentation tank mixer, cutter‑header maintenance on grinders, forklift certification training and annual OSHA training at the highway garage.

The sewer lateral report noted two new sewer lateral connections during the reporting period. The meeting approved the March 11 minutes earlier in the session and adjourned after no other business was raised.

The town did not record a motion or vote on any capital appropriation or ordinance during the discussion; Yukon pump work is contingent on receipt of piping and scheduled construction activity.