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Public Works outlines aging equipment and control-system upgrades needed at Hampton wastewater plant; warrant article planned for March
Summary
A Public Works presenter said the Hampton Wastewater Treatment Plant needs pump replacements, refurbishment of gravity thickeners and a SCADA upgrade, and that a warrant article to approve funding will be on the March warrant; dollar amounts were not specified.
The presenter for the town's Public Works department said the Hampton Wastewater Treatment Plant requires several upgrades and that a warrant article to approve funding will appear in March.
"Every day, 2,500,000 gallons of wastewater are treated," the presenter said, describing the plant's role in removing solids, organics and nutrients before discharge to a small tidal creek. The presentation laid out four support systems that Public Works says are essential for continuous operation: sludge pumping, sludge thickening, plant water and the plant's computer control (SCADA) system.
The presenter provided a detailed inventory of sludge pumps, saying the plant has 13 sludge pumps in total, including two mixed-sludge pumps, four returned-sludge pumps, two waste-sludge pumps, two thickened-sludge pumps, two primary-sludge pumps and one thickened-sludge transfer pump. "These 3 pumps have reached the end of their useful life and require replacement in the near future for the plant to continue its daily operations," the presenter said, referring to the two primary-sludge pumps and the thickened-sludge transfer pump.
On sludge processing, the presenter said thickening equipment—gravity thickeners, a rotary drum thickener and a rotary press—reduces sludge volume and lowers storage, processing and disposal costs. The presenter added that the gravity thickeners at the plant are more than 30 years old and need new mechanisms to remain reliable.
Describing the plant water system, the presenter said two pumps circulate roughly 200,000 to 300,000 gallons per day for uses such as wash water, pump sealing and yard hydrants, and that those pumps operate 24 hours a day and have surpassed their useful life. The town plans to replace the two pumps and evaluate installing variable-speed drives in pressure tanks to reduce energy use.
The presenter also flagged the plant's SCADA system, saying, "The SCADA system at the Hampton Wastewater Treatment Plant has been running since the 1990s and will soon be incompatible with today's computers." The presenter said an upgrade is needed so operators can continue to control current equipment and support any new equipment that may be installed.
The episode did not list dollar amounts, a timeline for the work, or other funding specifics. The presenter reiterated that a warrant article to approve funds for the upgrades will be placed on the town's March warrant. No vote or formal authorization was recorded in this presentation.
Public Works framed the work as necessary to keep the plant operating reliably and protect the town and the environment; the presenter thanked viewers for watching the video series and noted the department's ongoing maintenance efforts.
