Southington Acts To Improve Water Quality In Town

SOUTHINGTON, CT — Amid all of the budget season number crunching, Southington town officials last week took a major step toward helping the local environment.

In a unanimous, 9-0 vote, the Southington Town Council voted to award a contract to Kovacs Construction Corp. out of Oxford to build and install a new feature at the town's wastewater treatment plant that will remove phosphorus.

If wastewater has too much phosphorus after being treated at the wastewater plant, which is located at 999 Meriden Waterbury Turnpike, then discharged wastewater can contribute to excess algae blooms in streams, rivers, and other water bodies in town.

As a result, removing phosphorus is seen as a key step in the wastewater treatment process.

The set-up that will rid wastewater of phosphorus is called a "magnetite feeder," or a scientific process that uses magnetite to help separate phosphorus particles from the water, essentially acting as a de facto phosphorus filter.

"The goal of the contract is to enhance the town's wastewater treatment capabilities by installing specialized equipment that will aid in environmental protection and compliance with regulatory standards," reads a project narrative.

The project will cost $536,445 and it includes the town putting up an amount equal to 5 percent of the actual project cost, a requirement of the building process, Southington Town Manager Alex Ricciardone said at the April 24 council meeting.

He said the town council's sewer committee already recommended the full council approve the bid, something decided at the committee's April 16 meeting following an April 2 bid opening.

Before any of the committee and full council decisions on the project, Ricciardone said town staff looked over the bids.

"They were all reviewed by our engineer," Ricciardone said at the April 24 meeting.

The highest bidder for the project bid $672,000, with Kovacs being the lowest bidder, Ricciardone said.

Council members didn't discuss the contract award, but quickly voted in favor after being briefed at last week's meeting.

For the minutes of the April 16 Southington Town Council Sewer Committee meeting, click on this link.