From the Falmouth Enterprise · September 22, 2023 · By Gilda Geist
Bidding on Falmouth's wastewater treatment facility upgrade opened on September 7, 2023. The low bidder, RH White of Auburn, offered to do the work for $26.1 million, just under the town's latest construction estimate of $26.6 million. Wastewater Superintendent Amy Lowell told the Water Quality Management Committee on September 13 that the project can be awarded. In a September 18 memo she said the town was waiting on state approval, with work expected to start that fall and last about 2½ years. The plan adds a third sequencing batch reactor (a tank system that removes nitrogen and other pollutants from wastewater), sludge-thickening equipment, ultraviolet disinfection, building renovations, electrical work and a vehicle storage building. The article describes the plant, in West Falmouth, as partly decades old. The upgrade would also let it treat more wastewater as the town expands its sewers.
The total project cost is about $33.5 million, including engineering, contingency and a project manager. Most of it is expected to come from a zero-percent state revolving fund loan. Plans had been paused in 2022 after a higher independent cost estimate sent the project back to Town Meeting for more borrowing authority. The connection to the Bay is indirect: more treatment capacity is what lets Falmouth connect more homes now on septic systems to sewers, and that is one way to cut the nitrogen reaching its estuaries. This is a 2023 story, so check the town for current construction progress.
This is CPWB’s summary of a news article. The full article and its photos are published by the Falmouth Enterprise.
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