Experts to address Belmont water supply needs

BELMONT — Representatives from Underwood Engineers and the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services will attend Monday’s meeting of the Belmont Board of Selectmen to answer residents’ questions about the town’s water supply.

Voters in March rejected a warrant article seeking $3.1 million for a treatment facility to filter the municipal water supply, which has a high concentration of iron and manganese. The town would have obtained a $1.6 million loan, with the Drinking Water and Groundwater Trust Fund kicking in $1.5 million for the project.

For resident George Condodemetraky, it was the lack of information that made him vote against the article.

“They hired an engineer in 2018, without anyone knowledgeable about what they were doing,” Condodemetraky said. “In December, they had a public hearing, which was attended by one person.”

He said most residents were unaware of the public hearing, or that there was an alternate source of water that could supply the town’s needs. When Condodemetraky asked questions during the town’s deliberative session, he said, there were no engineers there who could address his concerns.

Town Administrator Jeanne Beaudin said that, because Condodemetraky wanted an in-depth discussion, selectmen asked the engineering firm and DES to attend Monday’s meeting and talk about the treatment facility and the alternate source.

The other well that Condodemetraky brought up has been permitted at 56,000 gallons per day, Beaudin said. While that supply does not have the high concentrations of iron and manganese that the town’s current water source has, Beaudin said users of the municipal system require about 100,000 gallons per day. The current source is permitted at 936,000 gallons per day.

Asked whether the 56,000 gallons in the permit is the maximum capacity of the alternate well, Beaudin said that would be a question for Monday night.

“I’m not sure it could produce what we would need without commingling the two sources, which would still require filtering,” she said.

The iron content in the current municipal supply is 9.04 parts per million, while the state’s maximum contaminant level goal, or MCLG, is 0.3 ppm. The manganese level is 0.22, while the MCLG is 0.05 ppm. Those high concentrations cause discoloration and give the water a bad taste, as well as creating problems for pipes and laundry, but are not considered a health risk at this time, Beaudin said.

Condodemetraky said the proposed water treatment facility was going to be designed to filter 200,000 gallons per day, which he claimed would require “tremendous” maintenance. “Eventually, we’ll have to replace that facility, and the chemicals,” he said.

“I thought it was a good idea to talk about the other well, and we’ll talk about the money,” he said.