Newport Fire Department wants more water

NEWPORT — The Newport Water District trustees met with members of the board of selectmen and fire department officers Tuesday night to work out a system to get more water at a faster rate, into the Newport fire station.

Fred Hickey said that with the 2-inch water main that now serves the fire station, it takes 28 minutes to pump 2,500 gallons into a tanker truck. That amount can be dumped in 1 1/2 minutes into a dump tank. Water District Superintendent Don Brawn estimated that by installing a larger main from the Water Street service into the station, it would take only about nine minutes to fill the truck. It also would ensure year-round access for the tankers.

A water district estimate for bringing a 6-inch main from Center Street, down Water Street and into the fire station was $3,000, a figure that the selectmen did not approve. If the town tapped into the 4-inch main that now runs in front of the facility, Brawn estimated, there would be “a real good flow. Enough to fill your trucks.” He agreed to put together a cost estimate for the project.

Town Manager Carlo Pilgrim asked if the water district would absorb the cost of replacing the line “as a community service.” Trustee Phil Campbell explained that Public Utilities Commission regulations prohibit such donations, but by using the town’s backhoe, Newport would be paying only for Brawn as supervisor and the actual piping and flow valves.

“This is not something we could fund,” said Campbell. “We have an obligation to umpteen other services in town that have priority over your project.”

Assistant Chief Don King said that once Brawn flushes the fire hydrant on Water Street by Brown’s Store, it will indicate what flow can be expected by increasing input from a 2-inch line to a 4-inch line. He could not say if a 4-inch line would be acceptable to the fire department until such flow tests were conducted.

Other options for water service to the station will be researched, said Pilgrim, including seeking grants for new hydrants.

In other business, Brawn complimented the fire department on its hydrant expertise during last week’s million-dollar fire on Main Street. He said that 750,000 gallons of water was tapped from town hydrants. Brawn said that he turned the pumping station on as soon as the first fire alarm came in “`and we didn’t begin showing a loss until noon the next day.”

The pump ran continuously for 16 hours, pumping 36,000 gallons an hour, he reported. Water also was pumped from the Main Street Bridge by Newport firefighters and from Sebasticook Lake by Detroit firefighters, he said.

Brawn explained to the selectmen that the district had applied for a Farmers Home Administration grant that would fund 50-75 percent of a $1.5 million water filtration and expansion project. The first phase of the project is to go under the Elm Street railroad tracks with major water mains.

The second phase is the construction on Nokomis Pond of a water filtration project. Brawn said that the state mandates that filtration begin by June 1992. He said that it would be a slow sand filter and the trustees soon would visit a similar system in Bath. A domed 90-by-95-foot building will be constructed on the pond but will not be visible or spoil the view of the pond.

Public information meetings will be held in the summer, he said, to let water customers know the scope, cost and impact of the project.