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Wastewater officials outline Phase 1 upgrades, biosolids drying and permit-driven sampling costs
Summary
Wastewater staff told aldermen about Phase 1 facility upgrades (pumps, valves, SCADA), efforts to further dry biosolids to expand disposal options, and increased engineering and sampling requirements tied to a new EPA discharge permit.
City wastewater officials told the Nashua Board of Aldermen they are planning a package of Phase 1 facility upgrades and compliance work after receiving a new discharge permit.
"We just received our new discharge permit, so we can discharge it to the Merrimack with that," said David Boucher, superintendent of wastewater, and he added that the permit includes new study and sampling requirements that will raise costs for engineering and laboratory work.
Boucher outlined capital projects that include a sludge storage tank project, secondary clarifier upgrades, tank resurfacing and recoating, and a SCADA upgrade to manage remote pump stations and valves. Those upgrades aim to maintain reliability and to address aging assets, he said. "Some of that infrastructure steel has to be sandblasted recoated, and some of the concrete inside the tanks has to be redone and coated," Boucher said.
Officials also described efforts to reduce biosolids disposal risk by drying the material further to open more disposal options beyond current land-application on New Hampshire farms. "We're looking at further drying it, the type of equipment we use or amend the product to get a dryer, that would open up the applying it somewhere else," he said.
City engineer Dan Hudson told the board the sewer-rehabilitation program has relined about a third of the system; inspections continue to find sections needing attention but the program is reducing inflow to the plant.
Why it matters: the new EPA permit imposes sampling and reporting requirements that increase operating and professional-service costs; the capital work is intended to maintain treatment reliability and expand compliant disposal paths for biosolids.
Officials did not propose an ordinance or fee change at the meeting; they requested appropriation guidance and flagged the need for engineering support. The board discussed which communities the wastewater facility serves and the geographic scope for charges under municipal agreements.
