Acton Water District Undertaking $12 Million Project

South Acton residents who are accustomed to periodic issues with their water quality will likely be pleased to know that a remedy is in the works.

The Acton Water District’s request to go forward with building a new water treatment facility in South Acton was approved by a vote taken at a special meeting on June 25, 2012.

Only a dozen homeowners attended the meeting. But all but one were in favor of having a new filtration system installed in town.

There was an outside motivation to the proposal.

“The driving force behind it was the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection,” said Acton Water District Manager Chris Allen.

“They placed the Acton Water District under an Administrative Consent  Order,” Allen explained, referring to the determination agreed to by all parties and not subject to appeal.

At issue is the filtration at the town’s Christofferson Well.

In late 2010, the Water District received word that the well was being reclassified due to indications that surface water was being drawn into it. That meant the enacting of a plan to treat the water in accordance with federal “Surface Water Treatment” standards, which are more stringent.

One option—retiring  the Christofferson Well, which now has a higher  probability of impacting drinking water than the town’s other sources—was rejected.

“We don’t generally use the Christofferson Well much, but we don’t want to lose it,” Allen said.  “The town is growing, so capacity is of concern.”

 “We’re looking at a few potential sites,” said Allen, who has engaged private engineers to assess the feasibility of the locations, all in South Acton.

The new site is likely going to be smaller than its counterpart in North Acton, whose footprint is approximately 6,000 square feet.

The building of the facility will satisfy the administrative consent order and will address the mineral impacts that residents of South Acton and some other parts of town see.

“The results—stained laundry, stained plumbing fixtures, do not signify a health concern,” said Allen. “Specifically, though, manganese can become a primary contaminant if the concentration is too great.”

“The impacts of those minerals should subside over time,” Allen said, adding that “our wells are tested frequently.”

The consultants studying the feasibility of the different sites are expected to make their recommendations within the next several months.

The next step is putting the project out to bid. Allen said that this will occur in the late winter or early spring. Then, in the summer or fall of 2013, the year-long construction will begin.

"We’ll meet the deadline,” said Allen, who named October 13, 2014, as the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s time limit.

With a price tag of approximately $12 million, the project will necessitate the borrowing of and repayment of funds.

Allen said that there was good news in terms of the funding for the project. The Massachusetts Pollution Abatement Trust has agreed to a loan of $6 million with an interest rate of 2% and a 20-year repayment time frame.

The other half of the funding will be secured by a bond on the open market, also with a 20-year note.

In terms of cost to Acton homeowners, they will likely see a modest assessment added to their water bills each quarter beginning some time in 2014.