PWD water quality project set to proceed with funds in place

The Passamaquoddy Water District (PWD) is now able to proceed with an $835,000 project to improve the district's water quality after Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness provided $225,000 from COVID-19 Relief Funds to fill in a funding gap. The PWD already had in hand about $600,000 in funding for the project from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and the Maine Drinking Water Program.
The funding will be used to install two new granular-activated carbon (GAC) filters, which will remove organic compounds in the water coming from Boyden's Lake and the impoundment next to the treatment plant in Perry. Mark McCluskey, a project manager with the engineering firm of A.E. Hodsdon of Waterville, says that removal of the organics will help with the color and odor of the water, which are secondary standards that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has adopted for drinking water requirements. He notes that there are times of the year -- particularly after a heavy rain, which can cause run-off, or strong winds, which can stir up sediments -- when more organic compounds can be the water in the shallow impoundment area, leading to issues with water color and odor.
As for the issue of trihalomethanes (THMs) in the drinking water, McCluskey says that the PWD is currently in compliance with the EPA limit of 80 parts per billion and that in recent years there has less of a problem with disinfection byproducts such as THMs, which are a possible carcinogen. The district has struggled for many years with exceeding the EPA limit on THMs, particularly when the lake water turned over in the spring and fall. THMs are formed when organic compounds in the water combine with chlorine, which is used to disinfect the water, so reducing the amount of organics in the water should decrease the THM levels.
Ann Bellefleur, the PWD business manager, notes that the water district will not have to contribute funding to the project, so the district will not have to consider a rate increase.
"We're excited to get started," she says. Bellefleur and McCluskey estimate that the project may take six months, since there is a 22-week lead time on ordering the new treatment units. "Once we have that, it won't take long" to run the piping and install the equipment, Bellefleur notes.
There will be an ongoing cost to replace the activated carbon every two years, with the amount estimated at between $40,000 and $50,000. Bellefleur believes the PWD may set aside funding for those costs from monies it receives for the cell towers on its standpipe in Eastport.
While Passamaquoddy Rep. Rena Newell of Sipayik has introduced an emergency bill in the legislature to provide Passamaquoddy tribal members access to clean drinking water, because of concerns about the PWD water, Bellefleur is not sure the bill is necessary. She notes that the district, the EPA and Maine Department of Environmental Protection "have been working together to provide a good source of water" for the PWD's customers in Sipayik and Eastport.
Concerning the bill, which has been referred to the Judiciary Committee and does not yet have specific language, Rep. Newell says she has no plans to withdraw it at this point.