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Hampton to seek March warrant article to fund wastewater plant upgrades
Summary
A town Public Works presenter said the Hampton Wastewater Treatment Plant needs pump replacements, upgrades to aging thickeners, plant-water equipment and a SCADA control system replacement; the town will seek funding via a warrant article in March, amount not specified.
A Public Works presenter in Hampton outlined aging equipment and control systems at the town's wastewater treatment plant and said the town will ask voters to approve funding via a warrant article in March.
"Every day, 2,500,000 gallons of wastewater are treated, which is the volume of a small lake," the presenter said, describing the plant's role in removing solids, organics and nutrients before discharge to a small tidal creek.
The presenter listed four support systems the plant depends on: sludge pumping, sludge thickening, plant water and the computer control system (SCADA). He said the plant operates with more than 100 pieces of equipment and that 13 sludge pumps perform different roles across the plant.
The presenter stated that "these 3 pumps have reached the end of their useful life and require replacement," but the transcript does not specify which pumps are affected. The plant also uses gravity thickeners, a rotary drum thickener and a rotary press; the gravity thickeners are described as "over 30 years old" and said to need new mechanisms to remain reliable.
The plant water system includes two pumps that circulate an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 gallons per day and operate 24 hours a day; the presenter said those pumps have "surpassed their useful life." The transcript reports the town would like to replace those pumps and install variable-speed drives in pressure tanks to cut electricity costs.
The plant's SCADA system (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) has been running since the 1990s, and the presenter said it will soon be incompatible with modern computers; an upgrade is needed to keep the plant's equipment controllable and to support any new installations.
The presenter closed by reiterating that the town will include a warrant article in March to approve funds for upgrades; the transcript does not state the dollar amount, the warrant article language or the exact date of the vote. No formal motion or vote occurred in the recording.
Next steps: the warrant article will appear on the town warrant in March for voter consideration; details including funding amounts and proposed replacements were not provided in the presentation.
