Sewage spill

[hazelnut]

http://www.wmur.com/news/28930411/detail.html

[ITD]

I saw them working on that in front of Town Docks Restaurant. Drove by about 11:30, looks like they had things patched up by then, didn't smell anything bad, hopefully it was a small spill.

[TOAD]

Schitt!

[Rinkerfam]

This is not the news I wanted to see. We are renting a house near Meredith Marina from the 27th of August through Labor Day. The kids practically live in the water when we are there. I wonder if we should be concerned.

[Two dobys]

Oh Crap!!!!!!

[webmaster]

Officials wanted to alert boaters that the water in that part of the lake will have elevated levels of bacteria. The spill was not expected to affect the lake's beaches...

Can I lift this thread out of the gutter and ask why the bacteria level would affect boaters but not beaches?

[RailroadJoe]

Yes please do

[Jmo77011]

There are not any public beaches in that area of the lake, so maybe they are thinking that the high bacteria levels will not reach the swimming spots. Still, it's not a pleasant thought!

[fatlazyless]

Oh yes, there is one very small, postage stamp sized, Town of Meredith public beach, complete with parking for two or three cars, a sandy beach area and a waterfront that is located on Pinnacle Park Rd. It is the size of one house lot, has a chain link fence with 48" ungated entry, a couple town signs, and is directly across Meredith Bay from the town docks.

Plus, the Inn at Church Point has a sandy beach area that is used by hotel guests and some of the employees.

[upthesaukee]

WMUR reported tonight that the work was still on-going and would likely continue into the evening. They reported the concerns were not boating per se, but people fishing and swimming in the Merideth area due to high bacteria levels.

Being one who will get out of the way of traffic and jump in the water off my boat if I am hot, I can see their concern for others like me, or those using swimming facilities in the area.

The fishing concern is obvious.

[Nagigator]

my favorite way to swim in the lake is off the back of a boat......

[hazelnut]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

.

Plus, the Inn at Church Point has a sandy beach area that is used by hotel guests and some of the employees.

Less, my thoughts exactly. My mind immediately shifted to Church Landing. This CAN'T be good for business. What about all the shorefront property owners in the bay? This must be negatively impacting their ability to enjoy their waterfront.

I'm sorry but the media (or someone) seems to be downplaying this a bit. I see this as a BIG deal? Is it just me?

[dd16]

The beach on Pinnacle Park is not a town beach. It is kept up by the residents of Pinnacle Park. We were at the beach this afternoon and had no idea this was going on.

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by hazelnut

Less, my thoughts exactly. My mind immediately shifted to Church Landing. This CAN'T be good for business. What about all the shorefront property owners in the bay? This must be negatively impacting their ability to enjoy their waterfront.

I'm sorry but the media (or someone) seems to be downplaying this a bit. I see this as a BIG deal? Is it just me?

No H.N., it's not just you. Can you imagine if it was an accidental spill from a large boats black water holding tank! How much do you think that boater would be fined?? I wonder if the town will be fined... Sorry had to laugh at that!

Dan

[boat_guy64]

After an early morning jet ski ride, I went to the DD in Meredith and saw the water pouring out of the pavement. I guessed it was a water main break. At that time, police had the area blocked off but work had not started. I'd say many gallons per minutes were comming up through the pavement at that time.

In the afternoon around 2pm, when I went by again there was a large hole dug and two trucks were pumpling out the hole. On the way back I went around the back of town to avoid traffic and also noticed them pumping out the sewer at the train station. I'll assume that was to keep things from going down stream.

As always in NH, any tourism issue seems to get down played to not scare anyone away. It will be interesting to see how the testing comes out this week and see if there really is an issue.

Needless to say, the beaches at Grouse Point were fairly empty and the pool was full.

[Rinkerfam]

I haven't seen anything new today regarding the spill. I was wondering if anyone up in the Meredith area had anything to report (when water quality tests will be performed and results shared specifically). Thanks in advance to anyone with information.

[jmen24]

Originally Posted by ishoot308

No H.N., it's not just you. Can you imagine if it was an accidental spill from a large boats black water holding tank! How much do you think that boater would be fined?? I wonder if the town will be fined... Sorry had to laugh at that!

Dan

This happened on Lake Sunapee a few years back and two years ago the towns (its a combined town water and sewer precinct) received a $500K fine from the state or federal (can't remember off the top of my head).

If it was neglect on the towns fault for the break then the residents of Meredith and any other town that uses the water/sewer system can expect an increase in the water bills in the next few years.

Took a minute to find the article:

http://www.nl-nh.com/vertical/Sites/...BFDCBAA%7D.PDF

[fatlazyless]

http:www.laconiadailysun.com/story/sewer-line-failure

Most likely, a shut-off valve on a 12" diameter sewer pipe is a gate valve which has a stem and a large turn knob, all very similar to a gate valve on a 1 1/4" pipe coming off a boiler in an older private home.

Here's what to do; go to the FAMILY DOLLAR and buy an extra large boater's size jar of VASELINE in the baby care section for about $2.25, and rub vaseline onto the handle stem. Then open and close the old valve about ten times so the vaseline gets inside the valve and onto the top of the gate.

Then, do just like your friendly local plumber and donate your labor, and present the $2.25 receipt to the sewer pipe owner! Hey, some very smart plumber once said that an ounce of maintenance is worth a pound of cure!
...............

Supposedly, the New Hampshire Dept of Environmental Services had their budget cut by the current legislature so the NH-DES needs violation fine money to cover their department's operating expenses.....like those 6-gal plastic water bottles that set on top of the water cooler, or basic office furniture like chairs and tables. Hey, just try running a state agency when your budget has been trimmed way down!

[Webbsatwinni]

Originally Posted by jmen24

This happened on Lake Sunapee a few years back and two years ago the towns (its a combined town water and sewer precinct) received a $500K fine from the state or federal (can't remember off the top of my head).

Wouldn't that just impact services or taxes somewhere else? I agree they should be held accountable, but fines trickle down.

[jmen24]

Originally Posted by Webbsatwinni

Wouldn't that just impact services or taxes somewhere else? I agree they should be held accountable, but fines trickle down.

Correct, that is why I stated that the residents of Meredith can expect a higher water bill in the upcoming years if the town receives a fine.

New London's water bills went up by 50% 6 months after the fine was issued. Then the following bill 6 months later was slightly less, they have not gone back down to the prior levels, not that that would be expected with the rising costs of things, including a far more diligent maintenance program at the water works.

[fatlazyless]

The Meredith http://meredithnh.org/ws.php water & sewer user bills, as well as some other area towns, were already very likely to increase due to the the proposed new installation of an eight million dollar ultraviolet radiation sewerage process http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sewage_treatment that the State of NH wants to install at the sewerage treatment plant in Franklin, http://des.nh.gov/organization/divis...wrbb/index.htm located at the confluence of the Winnipesaukee and Pemigewasset Rivers. That's where this broken pipe underneath the Meredith town docks and Town Docks restaurant carries the sewerage flow.....out to the Franklin treatment plant and after that, into the Merrimac River which eventually flows into the Atlantic Ocean down in Newburyport, Massachusetts. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merrimack_River

Phil Warren, the Meredith town manager, tried to get the State, according to a newspaper report, (google "Council ok's Winni Basin arrangement-Fosters April 6, 2011") to consider going with a chlorine treatment as opposed to an eight million dollar ultraviolet radiation process, because it would cost less, but apparently the State wants the eight million dollar ultraviolet radiation. The link to Wikipedia above speaks a bit, "Treatment in the receiver environment," about the pros and cons of ultraviolet radiation for sanitizing sewage in the later stage of treatment as opposed to using chlorine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultravi...ary_compliance

[Rattlesnake Guy]

Do we have a biology geek in the group? What are the mechanics of this type of introduction of biologically unwanted product? (was that polite enough?) I assume that natural processes will eventually correct the problem but would really like to understand exactly what happens when it goes as expected?

Algae bloom?
Ecoli has a lifespan without food?
Oxygen levels get screwy?

Thanks in advance

[Mirror Lake's BB]

The failed valve could very well have been a plug valve the "cadilac" (probably appropriate for you FLL) would have been a DeZurik. It may have been less expensive than a gate valve for that size but not sure. I think the break point for a buried plug valve using a simple nut operator is 6 inch making the plug valve cheaper. Over a six, a travelling nut gear box would be required since it is a quarter turn valve, and would drive the price up. Cheaper than a gate, I can't say. Maybe it was and the selection was price driven.

I don't know if the travelling nut gear box was perfected for buried use back then when this installation occurred. And if this valve wasn't periodically exercised over how many decades

Also, the actual wastewater is "sewage"; "sewerage" relates more to the process and equipment.

Just my crappy two cents.