Proposed Water Treatment Facility FAQ

How will the proposed water treatment facility work?

The pumped water from each well will enter an aeration tower removing the CO2 and some contaminants. This will reduce the chemical usage by naturally raising the pH of the water. Next, the water will be chlorinated and run through a series of membrane filters, removing organic and in-organic contaminants, so that our water will meet or exceed all the regulations that we must meet under the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Lastly, the water will be pumped to a clearwell and the finished water will be pumped throughout the distribution system and into storage tanks.

What is the proposed schedule?

The Water Treatment Plant would be built and ready to be put into the distribution system within eighteen months from the time the contract is awarded.

How much will it cost?

The proposed cost is 7.8 million dollars and will be paid through bonding over a thirty year period at a fixed cost to each single family home of sixty dollars every six months or $3,600.00 dollars over the life of the loan. See NCW Rules and Regs for more information.

What will it look like?

The building would be a single story metal building that would be built to accommodate all the water treatment equipment for 1.8 million gallons per day and allow the capacity to increase to 2.3 million gallons per day to meet our future projected needs.

Will it make noise, add light to the area or increase traffic?

The building is designed to meet the requirements of a residential neighborhood: noise would be low decibel as required, and it would have sensor-controlled lights pointing to the ground for illumination. The traffic would not increase; it would remain the same as what presently enters and exits the property now. The chemical deliveries could be as often as five times a month during the summer and less during the rest of the year. Deliveries are scheduled during normal working hours with a trained certified employee from the North Chelmsford Water District present. The employees of the Water District would be monitoring the facility 24/7/365 as we do now at our existing facilities. The building would be entirely fenced in, and have all types of safety-equipment, i.e. intrusion alarms that would go to automatic dialers and a manned answering service, and chemical and pH monitoring. It will have a natural buffer of trees and shrubs to shield the building from abutters.

What are some other possible approaches?

• Buy water from Lowell.

  We did a cost analysis and the cost would be much higher and not the choice of the Water Takers of the North Chelmsford District. Lowell would remain an emergency back-up only, with a two-way system that would allow Lowell to receive water from us in case of their emergency situation.

• Consolidate with other Chelmsford Water Districts.

  This has been looked into many times and has no advantage to the North Chelmsford Water District. Even if consolidation was undertaken through a legislated process, the water treatment plant still would be required to be built. Also, an extensive Capital Expense would have to be undertaken because of the hydraulics of the different distribution systems and the difference in water quality that would require different water treatment processes. The Water Districts do have emergency inter-connections that will stay in place for mutual aid.