Wastewater Facility Tours

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Created on Thursday, 28 April 2016 16:37

Written by Lily Elmore

SAINT JOHNSBURY- Saint Johnsbury residents were given a tour of the town's wastewater management plant. Chief Operator Jim Brimblecomb allowed those on the tour a first hand view of what upgrades are needed.

The three main concerns are replacing the two screw pumps, the furnace, and the walls of the buildings.

“This wall is blowing out,” says Brimblecomb. “And obviously this wall is an insulated wall we are trying to maintain temperature in this tank.”

Brimblecomb says it would be better to pull the wall off and replace the current insulation with a foam type of insulation. He says that if the R-value can get up on these tanks, then the building will be easier to heat.

The life expectancy for  waste water treatment plants like the one in Saint Johnsbury is twenty years old, but officials say this one has been running for nearly thirty. 

“The best thing I can teach to anyone coming in the facility is watch for a trend,” says Brimblecomb. “If you if you start seeing something that is starting to move out of that trend, you got a problem.”

Residents will vote on the $10 million upgrades on May tenth by an Australian ballot. The upgrades will be for the wastewater facility as well as the towns water filtration plant. 

If approved, Saint Johnsbury’s water and sewer customers can expect a slight increase to their annual rate. The quarterly water bill will increase three dollars while the sewer bill increases to four.