Published December 18, 2019
By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — Lynnfield Center Water District (LCWD) officials are hoping to have an update on the water supply study by this April, Water Superintendent John Scenna told 16 residents during a Dec. 12 workshop in the Meeting House.
The workshop took place just over a year after ratepayers approved the $250,000 water supply study during a Special District Meeting in December 2018. Scenna said the study will determine what the LCWD is “going to do in the long-term.”
Scenna also explained that study will recommend whether the LCWD should continue receiving water from existing groundwater wells, switch to the MWRA or have a combination of both sources.
“We are looking at all of the options,” said Scenna. “No stone will be left unturned. The data will tell us what is best long-term for this water district.”
Scenna said the supplemental study is examining how would the LCWD be able to receive MWRA water through the Lynnfield Water District, which provides water to South Lynnfield. He also said it is examining the possibility of developing treatment options for iron and manganese at the Glen Drive well. The LCWD has attributed the two minerals to the discolored water problems that have affected residents living near the North Reading line.
“There was already a study done there,” said Scenna. “We are revisiting it to see if we could do it differently.”
Scenna also said the LCWD is looking into the possibility of constructing new wells at the Phillips Road well field.
“We know iron and manganese can be treated at Phillips Road, and we have Department of Environmental Protection permits to withdraw substantially more water from Phillips Road,” he offfered.
Scenna said the identified solution or solutions would be financed by ratepayers’ water rates.
“Everything we are looking at are million dollar projects that we will ultimately have to bond,” said Scenna. “The interest, debt and the principal are going to have be paid for 20 to 30 years through our water rates. The goal is to present where things stand at our Annual Meeting in April. We will not be looking to have people raise their hands for a vote, but we want to present all of the scenarios of how we can move forward.”
Scenna said the LCWD is “looking at a whole series of improvements that will benefit the entire system.”
“I don’t expect a solution by April, but I expect a substantially more developed presentation of the options by April,” said Scenna.
Lowell Street resident Erin Denehy, who has repeatedly had discolored water, inquired when does the LCWD hope to identify a permanent solution.
“Any type of major capital project has a six to nine month design period, followed by a three month bid period and then it depends on what you are building,” said Scenna. “It could take a year or it could take a couple of years. We need to step back and analyze everything before we spend millions. It’s a two-prong approach. A straight pipeline to the MWRA would be the longest delivery. There is a lot of permitting involved with joining the MWRA. We will still have to go through MWRA permitting if we connect to the Lynnfield Water District. We want to make sure we hit a home run with whichever route we go.”
Interim solutions
In addition to Scenna giving an update on the future of LCWD’s water supply, three CDM Smith civil engineers gave an overview of the interim solutions the district has been undertaking to help alleviate discolored water issues.
Civil engineer Angela Moulton noted that the district has four groundwater wells that are located on Phillips Road, Main Street and Glen Drive. The district also has water storage tanks located on Wing Road and Knoll Road.
Scenna recalled that the Phillips Road well site has a greensand filter treatment plant that treats iron and manganese while the Glen Drive well does not. Moulton said most of the residents who have had discolored water receive their water from the Glen Drive well.
Civil engineer Mike Nelson said the LCWD recently launched the Apple Hill neighborhood study, which focuses on the Apple Hill Lane, Chestnut Street and Lowell Street areas of town that have been impacted by discolored water. He said the study seeks to “answer the question why the Apple Hill neighborhood is more impacted by iron and manganese than other areas of town.” He said the study will determine “what is the extent of the problem” and what can the LCWD do to “alleviate the problem.”
“We want to improve bad tasting water, cloudy water and tinted water,” said Nelson. “We want improve clarity and consistency. That is the ultimate goal.”
Nelson said the LCWD increased its hydrant flushing program by going from annually to biannually. He said the Apple Hill area was flushed in October and will be flushed again in the spring.
“The process was greatly improved in 2019,” said Nelson. “The district and CDM Smith developed a unidirectional flushing program, which is the correct way to flush hydrants. Unidirectional means that you are drawing water from a consistent source, which is either from the tank or the wells, and you are drawing it in a single direction from that source through the system to an end point. The whole point of this is to scour the pipes and get rid of that coating of minerals and biofilm out of the hydrant and out of the system.”
If residents experience discolored water after flushing occurs, Nelson said they should run cold water from their taps “until it clears.”
“Do not run your hot water because that it is just going to draw it into your hot water tank and create sediment build up in your hot water tank,” said Nelson. “If you just run the sink and it doesn’t clear up in a minute or two, run the bathtub because the bathtub moves more water than your sink does.”
Nelson said the LCWD has been sampling water from homes’ outside spigots, which occurred before and after hydrant flushing. Scenna said samples were taken from homes that have had discolored water in the past as well as homes in other parts of town.
The Apple Hill study also involves having the LCWD administer a customer survey in order to assess water quality in the area. Nelson said 368 surveys were mailed to residents. The survey is also available online at https://lcwd.us/2019/12/06/apple-hill-area-survey/.
“The survey has 11 questions and it takes between five and seven minutes to complete,” said Nelson.
Nelson urged all Apple Hill area residents to take the survey.
“If we don’t get a full blanket of responses from this area, then it is still anecdotal evidence,” said Nelson. “We want to see a 99 percent capture rate on this survey. You don’t just take the survey if you have problems. If you don’t have problems, that information is just as valuable as if you have problems.”
Nelson also said the new study involves undertaking hydraulic modeling, which entails tracing water flow through the LCWD’s system in order to “identify hot spots and how to fix them.”
Civil engineer Anne Malenfant said the goal of taking water samples and implementing hydraulic modeling is to “confirm that water quality meets standards” and to “look for patterns in problem areas.”
“We want to identify potential solutions,” said Malenfant.
Additionally, Scenna said the LCWD will be looking to blend water from different sites and also prevent flow reversals in order to help alleviate area residents’ discolored water issues.
“We want to have more improvements by the spring,” said Scenna.
Scenna said the LCWD Board of Water Commissioners’ meetings are now being held at the H. Joseph Maney Meeting Room in Town Hall. He encouraged residents to come to the board’s meetings or to reach out to the district if they have any questions or concerns.
Erin Denehy thanked LCWD officials for undertaking the various initiatives to help residents who have discolored water.
“It’s still a tough thing to deal with in the interim,” Denehy added.
“We hear you,” said Scenna in response.