Pittsfield board to study rates for water, solution for lagoon

PITTSFIELD – Town councilors are hoping a new meter system will bring accuracy to the town’s water department, accuracy that could prevent – or promote – a water rate increase.

Jake Hughes, water works superintendent, told the council Tuesday night that Pittsfield’s water rates rank in the lowest 3 percent in the state. But he cautioned that 500 home and commercial water meters need to be changed before a rate increase should be considered.

“We need to have accurate meters to tell us if we need an increase,” Hughes said. He said the town has eight different meters in its system, and some date back to 1902. Inconsistencies in readings are common.

The new system is proposed at $125,000, and would be a GPS-based system that would read all meters remotely. Revenues likely would increase by 18 percent to 30 percent, said Hughes, and accuracy and efficiency would increase. “One person could read all the town’s meters in one day, and we could bill monthly, rather than quarterly,” Hughes said. “We are going to need technology over labor. Technology is cheaper.”

If the council agrees to purchase the meter system, a comparison study of individual water use will reveal whether town water rates should increase.

Hughes also told the council he may have a temporary fix for the town’s sewer treatment plant lagoons, which are filling with sludge. In some places, he said, the sludge is 4 feet deep.

“If we had $7 million, I could fix it tomorrow,” Hughes said. Instead, he will see whether a tiny single-cell organism with a big appetite can solve the problem.

Hughes said he can place the organisms in the lagoon and they will eat the sludge. There could be a 25 percent to 35 percent reduction in one to two years, he said. The organisms have been genetically engineered to be sterile and therefore would have to be replenished periodically.

He said the cost of the natural method could be $18,000 a year.

“It’s a good Band-Aid,” said Mayor Peter “Andi” Vigue, “but this problem isn’t going to go away. We need to start reserving funds to solve the sludge issue in the future.”