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WPCA hears operational report, discusses apartment billing options and approves $10,834 refund batch
Summary
Superintendent reported higher nitrogen readings and operational changes; the board debated apartment-per-unit billing scenarios (50/60/70%) and piloting measurement approaches, and approved a director-of-revenue refund batch totaling $10,834.
The South Windsor WPCA heard a detailed operational report from staff and debated changes to how multifamily properties are billed for sewer service.
Superintendent (staff) reported operational metrics for the month: average plant flow about 2,870,000 gallons; BOD and total suspended solids removals near 98%; elevated nitrogen totals (reported at 141.5 pounds and an average concentration around 5.8 mg/L); sludge retention time (SRT) lowered to approximately 3.8 days to address performance; the UV system was started and new gravity-belt thickener equipment has been installed and is functioning. Staff said electrical conduit and concrete pads for odor-control equipment were completed and that odor-control work had been delayed briefly but was finished that day. Staff also reported work on a pump-station upgrade and that phase 2 scoping fees for a sanitary evaluation study are being developed. Staff said they are working with the state clean-water program on grant funding and noted a 55% planning-grant eligibility for the project.
On collections, staff reported that 38 commercial sewer liens have been filed with the town court and that outreach to lien holders will continue; an alias tax warrant was projected for issuance by August 15. Members asked whether a small number of large commercial accounts were skewing the commercial collection rate (reported at about 86.57% versus residential at about 98.09%).
Staff requested and the board approved a refund batch requested by the director of revenue in the amount of $10,834; a committee member moved and another seconded the motion, which carried.
The board then discussed apartment and condominium billing. Staff presented an analysis using current assumptions (apartment-billing at 50% of a single-family unit per unit) and alternative scenarios (60% and 70% per unit). Staff said the analysis used 2025 billing data and a sample of multifamily units (638 total in the analysis). Under staff assumptions, moving to 60% would add roughly $29,000 in revenue versus current billing; 70% would add roughly $59,000. Members raised concerns about relying on water-consumption assumptions rather than direct measurement of sewer discharge, suggested pilot-testing or metering a sample of homes, and noted development and hotel/long-term-stay patterns could change use profiles and affect future billing design. Staff said they used 2025 data and prior sampling of roughly 1,500 single-family homes to derive averages but acknowledged limitations in directly measuring sewer discharge at scale.
Members concluded there was not sufficient support to change the apartment-per-unit assumption that evening and asked staff to continue studying the issue and consider pilot options.
