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Needham committee hears pump failure, lead-line and MWRA tunnel updates; warns rates will feel impact
Summary
The Needham Water and Sewer Rate Structure Committee received operational updates May 19, including a Charles River plant pump failure that has increased MWRA purchases, a program to identify four known lead services and 58 unknown services, and ongoing MWRA tunnel work; staff warned costs from those events will affect future rates.
Harold Berger, chair of the Needham Water and Sewer Rate Structure Committee, opened the May 19 meeting by noting the session was being recorded and that members participating remotely were disclosed.
Mike, the superintendent of water and sewer, gave the committee a series of operational updates. He said South Street water-main work is essentially complete aside from planned tree replacements and that design for Phase 2 of the 128 I‑95 sewer interceptor rehabilitation is finished and the project was recently bid. The town has put a new water service renewal and replacement contract out to bid for early June to address lead, galvanized and other unknown services; Mike said the program shows four known lead service-line replacements and about 58 galvanized/unknown services to verify, and that the work is mandated by EPA and MassDEP requirements.
Mike also described repairs at the Charles River water treatment plant. He said the plant’s dehumidification system upgrades are installed and awaiting commissioning, but that Water 1A pump and motor burned out and the town has been drawing more MWRA water as a result, increasing costs. "It should have shut down, but it didn't," Mike said, describing fail-safes that either did not operate or were not in place. He told the committee the town has hired a consultant to scope replacement work (new variable-frequency drive, harmonic filter, pump and motor), plans to put the work out to bid, and expects roughly six weeks after award to receive equipment and integrate it into the SCADA system.
Committee members asked about warranty and recurring failures; Mike said the failed unit was out of warranty and that the previous failure had been a different issue. He said design and bidding work are under way so on‑call contractors can perform installation once bids are awarded.
On system losses, Mike said the town will bid annual leak-detection services to reduce unaccounted-for water and reported an unaccounted-for rate of roughly 17 percent, adding some of the apparent loss may come from billing-system issues and undocumented private connections discovered during field inspections. He described an instance in which a meter was found disconnected inside a residence and the house was served by a private irrigation well, creating a billing gap the town must investigate on a parcel-by-parcel basis.
Carissa, joining by Zoom, told the committee a regional emergency meeting was underway and warned ongoing dry conditions could push Needham into a level-two drought, which would bring stricter watering rules, possibly including a ban on Sunday watering. She said the town is increasing outreach but has chosen not to issue fines this year.
The committee also heard that the MWRA is conducting borings and preparatory work for a 15‑mile redundant water tunnel that passes through Needham, with project completion currently estimated in the late 2030s. The presenter cited a preliminary MWRA assessment figure in the packet (verbatim in the transcript as "2,193,000 461") and reminded members that final assessments remain subject to MWRA processes.
The committee set a tentative follow-up meeting for early June to continue rate discussions and adjourned after a motion and second.
