Brown Water Progress Update
In August 2018, the Town of Scituate held a public meeting to discuss the causes of discolored water and the plans for addressing the problem. Below is an update of the progress made on the goals discussed at this meeting.
Goal: Remove accumulated material from water mains
Background: because of the composition of many pipes in the system (cast iron), manganese from water sources, and deferred maintenance, Scituate’s water system has long been plagued with sediment buildup which causes discolored water. This especially occurs with spikes in use (summer visitors, water main breaks, fires) stirs up the system. There are also neighborhood pockets which have either outdated pipe systems (dead ends where sediment gathers, very old pipes, etc.) that have more chronic problems. Removing sediment from the pipes reduces the occurrence of these problems.
- Since 8/18, over 81,250 feet of pipe have been cleaned through ice pigging (a method of injecting slushy ice through a section of pipe to flush out material) and flushing. Additional ice pigging is scheduled for this fall for an additional 62,000 feet of pipes. Because the reservoir is still high this late in the season, an aggressive town-wide flushing program will begin September 9, 2019. The Water Department has also increased flushing in areas with multiple brown water reports this summer.
- The final two miles of unlined cast iron pipe has been removed, eliminating all unlined cast iron from the system.
- The Town improved brown water reporting methods for residents to alert the water department of problems by creating a hotline and online form. These reports serve as data points for the Water Department to track the complaints and devise solutions for the residents.
- The Town is investigating establishing a water filtration program for chronic occurrence residents.
Goal: Remove Manganese from the Sources
- Installation of green sand filters on offending wells has eliminated new manganese from entering the system.
Goal: Find New Water Sources
Background: Part of the challenge of properly maintaining the water system with regular flushing is having enough water above resident needs. Industry standards recommend complete flushing on an annual basis. Because water use in Scituate spikes in the summer, the DPW is reluctant to use water resources before the summer for this purpose to ensure adequate drinking water. After the summer, the water levels need to be assessed to determine if flushing can be done before winter. To address this problem, as well as provide for additional growth, new sources of water are needed.
- Town Meeting approved $8M to fund the construction of an additional green sand filter to bring another high producing well on line. Permitting and engineering of this filter is underway. The new well should be on line by the summer of 2021 and is estimated to generate an additional 320,000 GPD without introducing manganese.
- The Town has completed approximately 85% of the engineering and permitting necessary for an expansion of the town reservoir. The town is seeking future state funding to complete the engineering and for construction costs. When completed, the project will increase the capacity of the reservoir by 23%.
Other Initiatives
- Hired Assistant Water Superintendent whose primary focus is to address brown water reduction, work with individual resident problems, and improve communication.
- Improved methods for reporting brown water to the water department (online survey, hotline, etc). This has helped identify problem pockets in the system and provides needed data for measuring effectiveness.
- The Town has met with representatives of our state and federal legislative delegations to explore possible state and federal funding to assist the Town in covering the cost of these initiatives.
The August 13, 2018 presentation can be found here: