The mystery of how Harvard’s wastewater management system processed about 100,000 gallons of wastewater over four days last November was solved, but not until after the Feb. 27 meeting of the Water and Sewer Commission had adjourned. “Clerical error” was the simple message sent to Town Administrator Tim Bragan by Weston and Sampson Field Specialist James Arthur, who operates the plant.
Arthur was asked to come to the meeting to explain the unusually high numbers, but he inadvertently brought the wrong log book. While Arthur lacked the data to explain what had happened, commission members did have an opportunity to learn about what events might cause an artificial jump in the numbers and to put a procedure in place to be notified about any such event.
Unusually high volume
The days in question were during the 2013 Thanksgiving school vacation. According to Arthur, the plant normally processes about 11,000 gallons a day, 6,000–8,000 of which is from the schools. But on the four days in question, numbers as high as 24,000 gallons were reported on nonschool days. The wastewater plant is permitted for only 23,000 gallons a day, and the commission has set a limit of 80 percent of the permitted amount (18,400 gallons). If that number were reached, the commission would impose a moratorium on new connections. Going over the DEP’s limit would have serious consequences. “We haven’t heard from the DEP,” said Chairwoman Cindy Russo, adding to the mystery. Arthur said, “As far as the plant, I see the same amount every day. We are well below the limits.”
Plant capacity a continuing concern
When asked what the explanation might be, Arthur reported that they have had some mechanical problems “pushing steady flow forward.” Each discharge contains about 3,400 gallons, but a mechanical problem could cause discharges to be held up, resulting in higher numbers on the day the problem is fixed. “We need to make sure we don’t connect more people than the system can handle, and if we don’t know the numbers, we can’t,” said Russo. Arthur agreed that in the event of a mechanical problem that will cause a higher number on a specific day, the commission should be notified.
A false alarm
As for the real cause of the high November numbers, Arthur later explained to the Press that an office worker used the wrong column of numbers from Arthur’s spreadsheet when generating that month’s flow report. If the town administrator deems that a corrected November report be filed to the town and the DEP, it will be. Going forward, Arthur will notify Bragan of any actual “blip” in the numbers.
