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Superintendent details sewer and water budgets, warns one well tests above PFAS limit and proposes well‑field tie
Summary
Rob Longo, superintendent of Bristol Water and Sewer Department, presented balanced water and sewer budgets and outlined capital priorities including a failed screw pump, a planned diffuser replacement and a proposed raw water pipeline to address a PFAS reading of 4.1 ppb at Mick Street; he said the state offered 20% reimbursement plus a $2.5 million grant for emerging contaminant treatment.
Rob Longo, superintendent of the Bristol Water and Sewer Department, told the Board of Finance that both the sewer and water budgets were approved by their respective commissions and enter the third year of a previously adopted three‑year rate increase. “I am Rob Longo, superintendent of Bristol Water and Sewer Department, here to present, the budgets for the sewer and, water department this evening,” he said.
Longo said the sewer side faces a major mechanical issue: a screw pump has failed and the related diffuser/aeration system needs work. He described the diffuser project as designed and “shovel ready,” and said the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) declined to fund the clean‑water line but placed the diffuser on a shovel‑ready energy line that may be funded if advertised quickly. Longo said the diffuser scope is about $2 million but that replacing the entire screw‑pump mechanism could be more expensive; he emphasized the figures depend on engineering and available state funding.
On the water side, Longo listed capital needs including tank projects. The Stevens Street tank replacement is estimated between $7 million and $12 million, he said, and the Chapel Street/Princeton Drive tank requires a two‑year engineering study because there is no adjacent land for a replacement. Longo noted the Stevens Street tank sits on city property near Northeast Middle School and that the board of education has been cooperative on a possible land swap to ease relocation.
Longo told the board that one of the Mick Street wells tested at 4.1 parts per billion for PFAS — slightly above Connecticut’s MCL of 4 ppb — and that the department is designing a raw‑water connection from Mick Street to the Mechanic Street well field to enable blending and to create space for PFAS filtration. He said the city requested $19.5 million for that project and that the state indicated it would reimburse 20% and consider a separate $2.5 million grant for emerging contaminants. “We know with blending, we can bring it down,” Longo said.
Board members pressed on cost and schedule: Longo estimated the raw‑water link and treatment work would likely be a four‑year effort with design and complex crossings (including Route 6) that require easements and careful engineering. He also told the board the budget includes a $100,000 allocation for the first city‑wide leak‑detection study to find slow leaks and help prevent catastrophic breaks.
The presentation emphasized uncertainty in capital costs tied to what DEEP/DPH will fund and on engineering choices. Longo said both the sewer and water budgets are balanced and that salary allocations were adjusted between funds to avoid cross‑subsidy. The board did not take a vote on any budget line at this meeting; staff offered to provide more detailed line‑item budgets and follow‑up information on scope and funding options.
