East Millinocket Water and Sewer Department
53 Maine St.
East Millinocket, Maine 04430


 

   The East Millinocket Wastewater Treatment Facility was built in 1984 by the Charwell Construction Company and engineered by CDM. The facility went online in 1985. The plant provides primary treatment by clarification. The facility’s effluent is treated with chlorine to control bacteria prior to discharging it to the aeration basin at the adjacent wastewater treatment facility for the Great Northern Paper Company. GNP wastewater treatment facility discharges secondary treated effluent to the Penobscot River. There are two duplex pump stations in the 15 miles of collection system, one of which serves an industrial park within the town limits.  
 

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East Millinocket Treatment Plant

   The EMWWTF has an average daily flow of 0.366 mgd. In 1997 the plant averaged a BOD loading of 247 lbs/day and a TSS loading of 94 lbs/day to GNP’s aeration basin. It produces approximately 220 cubic yards of sludge per year at between 18% to 20% solids. The treated biosolids are spread on farmlands in the adjacent town of Medway. The flow consists of domestic sanitary and commercial wastewater. There are no industrial waste streams received at the treatment plant as the GNP paper mill has its own treatment facility. There are 796 residential sewer connections to the system. Septage is taken at the treatment plant from East Millinocket residents only.

   With a current quarterly rate of $36.00 per 1,200 cubic feet minimum, there has never been a sewer rate increase in the town of East Millinocket since the facility went online.
 

 

 

 







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Reinforced Aluminum Clarifier Cover
   
   Early upgrades to the system included placing fiberglass dome covers on top of the two clarifiers. When in 1998 one of the covers collapsed, it was replaced with a new cover which was constructed with reinforced aluminum. The other existing dome was extensively reinforced to maintain its structural integrity.

    Within the 15 miles of collection system pipes range in sizes from 6-inch sewer services to an 18-inch trunk sewer. There are approximately 207 manholes within the system. The majority of the sewer system is constructed of vitrified clay or asbestos pipe with many of the newer area in the system being constructed of PVC pipe.

   The facility began experiencing cso’s early in its existence. The majority of the collection system was designed and installed by the Great Northern Paper Company some 50 years ago. Over the years the collection system has experienced hydraulic capacity problems due to growth in the community. This limited hydraulic capacity resulted in problems including surcharging of wastewater into homes and overflows of wastewater into the Penobscot River. In 1996 the Town submitted a Wet Weather Flow Management Plan to the DEP identifying a schedule to reduce inflow and infiltration to the sewer system and reduce the number of overflow occurrences to the Penobscot River.  In 1997 an engineering firm was hired to perform a town wide Sewer System Study Evaluation (SSES) in 1997. The entire town was smoke and dye tested as well as a complete manhole flow study performed. This study identified a lot of the cso problems and as a result corrective action ensued. In 1998 the town took the first step in reducing its overflows to the Penobscot River by increasing the diameter of the flow metering piping and flow meter to allow for a higher flow to be sent to the GNP wastewater treatment facility. To date there have been no cso’s since 1998. The Town will be removing several more inflow sources to the sewer system and a target date of the year 2005 has been set to end all cso activity. These improvements will comply with the Town’s Wet Weather Management Flow Program and eliminate discharges to the Penobscot River.

Water Well Pump Houses
Hathaway Farm

   

   The majority of the town’s underground water distribution system was designed and installed by the Great Northern Paper Company some 50 years ago. The town of East Millinocket purchased the water utility from General Waterworks, a Philadelphia base water conglomerate, in 1979. The well system pumps an average of 600,000 gallons per day to 861 service connections. Of this total flow, 73% travels to the Great Northern Paper Company on a daily basis.  


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Great Northern Paper Company in East Millinocket, Maine

  The town had the foresight to borrow additional monies when they bought the utility to perform extensive upgrades to the system. Since the town has taken over the waterworks they have replaced / upgraded 55 of the 110 hydrants in the system. All three pump houses, which sit on an aquifer at the Hathaway Farm, have been revamped. In 1988 the number 3 pump house was raised 12 feet up from the ground level and a berm was constructed around it. This was done to help keep out the ice and high water from spring floods on the East Branch of the Penobscot River. This pump house serves as the emergency back up for the system in the event of extended power outages. It contains a 453 Detroit Diesel engine coupled to a right angle drive of a Worthington pump with an output of 1,450 gpm. This is more than the other 2 pump houses combined. The residential water metering system was upgraded to 100% outside readers and is now being changed over to a touch pad system. In 1981 a new standpipe was constructed by Chicago Bridge and Iron. The older 200,000-gallon standpipe was replaced with a new 1.2 million gallon structure.

   With a rate of $25.80 per 1,200 cubic feet, the town last saw a rate increase in 1993.

   In 1997 an engineering firm was hired to help with distribution studies for the Main Street and Industrial Park area. Due to the small size of the water main along Main St., the existing supply line is not adequate to provide water flow or fire protection needs for the Industrial Park area. The replacement of the water mains is scheduled for later this summer as part of a one million dollar upgrade. The existing 1,200 feet of 6-inch line has been identified as a water supply bottleneck and will be replaced with new 12-inch ductile iron pipe. Two new fire hydrants will also be added. Also included in this project will be radio telemetry systems for the water storage tank, and water pump stations #1, #2, and #3. It is also proposed to conduct a complete water system analysis as well as conducting flow and pressure tests. The data would be used to calibrate the hydraulic model of the system.

 

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