Moorestown Council drank in an update on Moorestown’s water at its most recent meeting. The township’s engineering consultants provided an overview of the work taking place at the township’s water plants and discussed what improvements will ensure things flow smoothly at the sewage plant.
Representatives from Alaimo Group, Gary Lattimer and Richard Aliamo, said work at the the Hartford Road Water Treatment Plant is about six weeks behind due to a bonding issue.
“The bonding company was playing games and actually was holding this contractor hostage because he thought the bid was too low,” Alaimo said.
By the time the company released the bonds, the contractor was already six weeks behind schedule. Aliamo said depending on how the work progresses, that time may need to be made up. The contractor was told they had 365 days from the Jan. 19 to complete the project.
“We’ve made it clear to the contractor that we believe the delay is because of them and their fault; they don’t get an extension because of that,” said Township Manager Thomas Neff.
The facility at Hartford Road was out of service for approximately 14 years. Once the plant is up and running, it will produce 2 million gallons of water a day.
In the meantime, the site is in the demolition phase. The site will be razed to the ground with the exception of three wells. The township will construct an entirely new building with a filter system resembling that of the one at Kings Highway Water Treatment Plant.
Over at the North Church Street Water Treatment Plant, the first phase of work – which involved removing and relocating an aerator – is complete. They’ve entered the second phase of the project, which calls for excavation of the building’s foundation. Lattimer said they need to undercut the building by approximately four and a half feet due to poor soil conditions.
All of the work at North Church is on schedule. A temporary system was installed to keep the plant running running during construction. The plant will continue to function throughout the construction process. Once completed, North Church will produce 1,400 gallons of water per minute.
William Kirchner, vice president at Environmental Resolutions Inc., followed Alaimo’s presentation to discuss wastewater projects ERI recommends the township include in its upcoming budget.
Kirchner said the headworks of a sewage plant reduces pollutants in the system. He said Moorestown has one device at the head of its plant doing this work.
“That’s like the most stressful location to have this piece of equipment, and it will break down,” Kirchner said.
Kirchner recommended the township replace the current headworks and install a second one, so that if one breaks down, the other will continue doing the work. He also recommended the township install head of plant screens and devices to remove irregular pieces of waste that don’t belong in the sewer system.
He also advised the township clean out its primary digester, which takes all of the solids in the stream and separates them. Digesters should be cleaned approximately every 10 years, but Moorestown has not cleaned its digester in 16 years. Kirchner said the result is there is deleterious material in the digester, reducing its efficiency.
The township will be considering the proposed projects as part of its upcoming budget discussions.
The next meeting of Moorestown Township Council will take place on Monday, April 28 at 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall.
