ORlEANS ANNUAl TOwN REPORt FOR YEAR ... - Town Of Orleans

generated engineering fees of the same order. At the time of this writing, we arekeeping our fingers crossed in anticipation of MA DEP approval in February 2009.Interest remains keen in the Orleans Water Treatment Plant. We conducted tours forschool students, engineering firms and other water purveyors. Our most unique visitorwas a contingent from Mexico hoping to treat the effluent of their distillation process.The Orleans Water Treatment Plant is designed to remove iron and manganese fromthe water, preventing these metals from entering the distribution system and reachingthe consumer’s tap. It is a state-of the-art facility with ultra filtration membranes thateven provide a barrier to particles as small as bacteria and viruses. The facility hasbeen in operation since March 2005, having made nearly 800 million gallons of the BestWater on the Cape.The Water Department is of course continuing its program to replace water meters withnew Radio Read Meters. We completed 572 installations, bringing us to the 55% markof the project. As we’ve stated before, our plan is to maintain current staffing levels bytaking full advantage of Radio Read technology. This is one of the factors that haveallowed us to incorporate operation of the Water Treatment Facility without increasingstaff. In addition, replacing our older meters helps to maintain the accuracy of our meterreading process.During the winter of 2008, staff repaired 5 main breaks and 8 significant service leaks.Prompt response to these emergencies provided for minimal loss of service andprevented the loss of millions of gallons of water. More than 50 fire hydrants wereinspected and repaired along with the continuation of our valve exercising and flushingprograms.Partnering with another Cape Water Department, Orleans has applied for a grant fromMA DEP’s Water Conservation Grant Program. If successful the $36,000 would be usedto purchase sophisticated leak detection equipment that would be shared by the twoWater Departments. Our intent would be to survey the water system for leaks with ourown staff and more frequently. Finding and repairing leaks quicker saves water and theassociated costs of production.During 2008, the Board of Water Commissioners devoted significant efforts to thefollowing matters:• Provided support for the Feasibility Study for a municipally owned wind turbine inthe watershed.• Updated the Water Department By-laws (Chapter 158) which are to be brought toTown Meeting in 2009.• Reviewed and analyzed the Department’s Financials, recommending andapproving the rate increase that was implemented after Town Meeting approval.We would like to express our appreciation to the Water Department personnel, the othertown departments and the residents of the Town of Orleans for their assistance,cooperation and support during the past year.194