Faced with last summer’s contamination of the town’s two public water supply wells, the looming threat of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), and a lack of other feasible well sites in town, the Water Commission has recommended that the town investigate a little-remembered provision in the Devens reuse plan: Harvard is entitled to connect its public water and sewer systems to those at Devens.
The Devens connection would be made with the closest accessible water line to Depot Road, likely somewhere near the Red Tail golf course. The line would then run southeast along Depot Road to the public safety building, which is the last stop on the northern end of the town water system.
The Devens option could be an alternative to building a larger $1.8 million facility to house equipment that would be necessary for PFAS treatment or any other future water quality remediation needs that might arise. At a Feb. 23 meeting, Water Commission Chair Cindy Russo said connecting to Devens would mean Harvard’s worries of water treatment costs and pollution in its only two existing wells (#2 and #5), which are right next to each other on Pond Road, would be over. The Select Board agreed with that assessment at its March 1 meeting, voting unanimously to fund the investigation using $10,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funds.
While Harvard has the right to connect to Devens’ public water system, the system has to have enough permitted capacity to handle Harvard’s usage. A 2016 water systems study report recommended looking into the Devens connection and warned that delaying the investigation could result in the option disappearing permanently. According to the report, as development of Devens continues, water demands will increase, possibly reaching the maximum allowed level.
Mass Development Director of Communications Kelsey Schiller told the Press last week that Devens’ current permitted water withdrawal is 4.8 million gallons per day, and its average usage is 1.8 million gallons per day, with a peak usage in summer of 2.1 million gallons per day. Harvard’s current water requirement is 22,000 gallons per day, with an average use of about 15,000 gallons per day.
The Water Commission’s goal is to have the Devens information by June 30 so the town will have enough time to prepare an application for a low-interest loan from the state’s Clean Water Trust for either building a new facility or connecting to Devens. The choice will be up to the Select Board; the application is due in mid-August. Tom Mahanna, vice president of Tighe and Bond, the firm investigating the water system options, told the Water Commission the loan would not pay for design costs, so Russo asked the Select Board to set aside $250,000 of ARPA funds for the design of one project or the other, and the board voted unanimously to do so.
Bringing back well #2
The commission also recommended that the Select Board fund the remainder of the work necessary to bring well #2 back online, which consists of installing equipment to chlorinate both public water supply wells full time. Department of Public Works operators are currently treating the second well with liquid chlorine, but Mahanna suggested switching to a tablet-based system, which is easier and less error-prone for operators. That system would cost $100,000, compared to the $60,000 to complete installation of a liquid system.
While the Select Board voted up to $100,000 in ARPA funds for either option, all three members of the Water Commission agreed at a March 2 meeting that the cheaper liquid system made more sense. Russo said the solution might be needed for only a few years, and the town would have to obtain licenses and train its operators to use tablets instead of liquid. Town Administrator Tim Bragan said he and Department of Public Works Director Tim Kilhart are considering outsourcing the operation of the water system because it is already costing the town about $20,000 in overtime every three months to chlorinate well #5 daily. “We think it will cost less than that to pay an outside contractor, and it will take the burden off im and the DPW.” Mahanna said a contractor would have no problems running the more common liquid system.
