Chris Pelletier, Nederland. With social distancing becoming the new normal, Public Works has had to adapt its normal work days and how the Department functions as a team. Streets and Utility teams are maintaining separation to avoid the potential of the entire Department getting sick. It is critical that the Water and Wastewater Treatment Facilities continue to function in the event someone gets sick. Maintaining this separation will ensure that there is backup to continue service.

The recent trend in disposable wipes for disinfection have become problematic for staff at the Wastewater Treatment Facility. Disposable wipes are wasteful and claims that they are flushable are false. These wipes are being flushed down toilets and causing equipment failures at the treatment facility. This has become a nationwide trend with wastewater plant operators across the country having to deal with clogged pipes and equipment. The Covid-19 virus exists in wastewater and aerosols and puts Nederland’s workers at risk when they have to clean equipment that is clogged up with disposable wipes. Staff has had to clean this equipment three times in one month when it is normally a quarterly or more maintenance task. Staff has added information to the Town’s website to inform residents of the effects of flushing these materials. In addition to the issues that are realized at the treatment facility. They can also cause clogs in the collection system and result in raw sewage backing up into resident’s homes. 

Another issue that has recently become a concern at the Wastewater Treatment Facility is grit. Grit is essentially dirt and is define as particles larger than 0.21 mm. Grit is a normal wastewater constituent and its source is likely laundry, I&I (Inflow and Infiltration), or floor drains. Grit is problematic for wastewater treatment because it is not easily removed once it is introduced into the facility. Most treatment facilities incorporate grit removal as part of the overall treatment process and is typically intercepted with equipment at the front of the plant before wastewater enters the facility. Grit removal equipment is expensive and as with most things that are expensive for small communities gets prioritized over time. For Nederland, treatment and capacity had to be prioritized with the initial construction of the treatment facility. Most recently the second stage of treatment (biosolids facility) was added to increase efficiency and reduce operating costs over the long term. It is now becoming clear that the next step in completing Nederland’s Wastewater Treatment Facility is to add grit removal as part of the process. Prior to constructing the Biosolids Facility, staff would periodically use the Town’s vacuum/jet truck to clean out the troughs in the headworks building to remove build-up of excess grit. What doesn’t get removed continues on to the first tank in the wastewater facility where it settles out. The first tank is also where processed waste gets pumped to in the primary treatment process. It is from this tank that waste is transferred to the Biosolids Facility for further treatment. The waste being transferred has a high grit content. Once in the Biosolids Facility, the continuous pumping of this high concentration of grit results in the pump prematurely wearing out. 

Staff has received funding to update the Master Infrastructure Plan. One of the priorities that will be added to the plan will be to add grit removal to the Wastewater Treatment Facility. Staff will also explore alternative methods to intercept grit. 

Staff has completed the RFQ (Request for Qualifications) process for selecting an on-call engineer and is requesting the BOT approve the service agreement in this meeting’s agenda packet. This process officially started on January 8, 2020. Staff was working on this in December prior to the official release of the RFQ. Six proposals were received, and a selection committee was formed to review the proposals. A qualifications based selection process was used and evaluated to meet CDOT’s criteria to manage federally funded projects. Scoring was completed at the beginning of March and a firm was selected. Staff worked with the Town’s Attorney to create a three year service agreement which was also reviewed by CDOT. This is the first step toward beginning the design and engineering process for the Transportation Improvement Project that will be presented at a following BOT meeting on May 5, 2020. Staff was awarded $1.5 million for this project and is excited to get started.

Staff had a meeting to begin planning for the annual Town Clean-up event. Every year staff works to improve diversion and recycling opportunities and educate residents on the different opportunities to reduce waste. This is usually a fun community event and is an opportunity to connect with residents. This is also an opportunity for members of the BOT to volunteer and connect with the community and have a public presence while also connecting with the Town’s staff. This year staff will expand recycling opportunities and begin public outreach early. Some of the alternative recycling that staff will offer this year will include:

Latex/nitrile gloves

Shoes

Trex decking and plastic bags

Document shredding

Couches/furniture

Sort area for reusable lumber

Alkaline batteries

This is a relatively small list on top of the typical recycling that is offered such as electronics, mattresses, oil, paint, and lightbulbs to name a few. A complete list will be created and advertised in the coming weeks.

Public Works installed a guardrail on Big Springs Drive this month. The Department sourced concrete jersey barriers to create the guardrail and will continue to research opportunities to acquire more and continue this effort. A used jersey barrier has a value of $450- $550 apiece. Staff was able to acquire these for free. At roughly $45 / foot this resulted in a savings to the town of $7000-$8000.

Public Works continues its efforts to make improvements around town and respond to resident inquiries in a timely manner. While life has slowed down for most folks due to the pandemic Public Works continues to adapt while addressing normal operations and responding to typical maintenance issues. A water leak was discovered and addressed in Big Springs (the repair resulted in saving roughly 11,000 gallons / day), fire hydrant repairs are taking place, snowplowing continues, street repairs are being planned, and ongoing projects are still moving forward.

Finally, Public Works responded to a water main break in Conger Street. Much of Nederland’s water system is between fifty and sixty years old and the standard for pipe installation has changed significantly since then. As pipes age there are a number of factors that cause them to fail such as soil pH, interior pipe scaling and corrosion, or underground movement from traffic and weather. One of the most challenging aspects of fixing a water main break in Nederland is trying to turn it off and isolate the problem. Nederland’s water system lacks redundancy in valve shut offs. Additionally, many of the valves have simply been lost to time and have not been seen since the system was installed. There are many valves under Hwy 119 and 72 and the asphalt can be as much as a foot thick. Typical methods of finding valves and water mains are not an exact science and often unreliable. Metal detectors help to locate buried valve cans but often reveal some other piece of metal buried under the ground instead. Nonetheless, staff was able to find the necessary valves to isolate the damaged area and make a repair before the snow moved in. This is tiring and stressful work that requires dedicated staff and institutional knowledge of the distribution system that only comes with time. It also requires a lot of different skill sets, tools and machines to successfully make these repairs. It is likely that water main breaks will continue to become more frequent as the system ages. Staff is looking at future replacements and upgrades as part of the MIP and will factor these costs in when planning for Capital Improvement Projects in future budgets.

(Originally published in the May 7, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)