The rains this week have undermined roads and threatened dams. The rush of water presents another potential hazard. It can carry contaminants like toxic chemicals or harmful bacteria. Wastewater treatment facilities have been hit with record volumes of water. In some cases it’s been more than they can handle. New Hampshire Public Radio’s Kerry Grens has more.
At the Derry Wastewater Treatment Facility this week, nine million gallons a day have been flowing into the plant.
Carrier: We’ve never had this much flow coming in to our facility, since I’ve been here.
That’s Tom Carrier, the Deputy Director of Public Works in Derry.
He’s been there for twenty years.
The stormwater overwhelmed his facility.
Several million gallons of untreated and partially treated sewage ended up in the Beaver Brook.
Carrier says advisories have been sent to downstream communities.
He adds the danger of disease is low, because the effluent is very dilute.
Carrier: Our normal flows coming in to the plant are typically just one point six million gallons per day. So the difference between the 1.6 and 8 million plus is obviously just stormwater.
Derry is among many treatment facilities across the state that have not been able to keep up.
At the Milford Wastewater Treatment Facility, superintendent Larry Anderson couldn’t even measure how much was going through his plant.
Anderson: Our influent meter measures up to ten million gallons, and our effluent meter measures up to five million gallons. So there was a period of about 12 to 18 hours where we have more flow than we could measure from either point.
Anderson says that ten million gallons a day is more than double what the plant usually handles.
At the Hampton wastewater treatment facility, flow was tripled, up to sixteen million gallons a day.
And in Franklin, wastewater flow peaked at twenty five million gallons per day.
Many plants have had to partially treat sewage and pump it out to make room for incoming water.
According to the Department of Environmental Services, Portsmouth, Rochester, Hooksett, and Durham have had to abandon disinfecting sewage to keep their facilities above water.
Fortunately, with Tuesday morning’s rain break and the storm’s end in sight, facilities have begun to rebound.
But the stormwater hazards will remain for some time.
According to Bernie Lucey at DES about forty percent of New Hampshire residents use private wells for drinking water.
And thousands of wells have probably flooded this week—especially those near rivers or lakes.
Lucey: If the well has been flooded, typically the floodwaters will contain a lot of mud and a lot of debris material.
And likely, bacteria.
Lucey recommends flushing the well with water, rinsing it with chlorine, and testing it for bacteria before using it again.
In the mean time, the Department of Health and Human Services recommends that people boil their well water until tests come back negative.
Flooded septic tanks also pose a risk by forming standing water around property.
The state’s public health director, MaryAnne Cooney, says it’s a good idea not to splash in those inviting puddles.
Cooney: Generally, unless you have an open wound there should be no risk. But of course one may become exposed through either their eyes or their mucous membranes to some of the fecal matter that could be washed in through the septic overflow.
The Departments of Environmental Services and Health and Human Services have posted safety advice on their websites.
SOQ
