Uphill Grind: For Some Sewer Customers, Connecting Is Costly And Challenging

When Chatham envisioned a town-wide sewer system years ago, the goal was to improve water quality for the whole town, putting the financial burden of wastewater treatment on all taxpayers equally. But in reality, mostly by fluke of topography, some residents have to pay an additional $10,000 or more to install grinder pumps before they connect to the system, raising serious questions about equity. That’s prompting the town to take another look at its policy.

Understanding The Technology

Gravity is at the heart of most sewer systems, with waste flowing downhill to a centralized treatment plant. When neighborhoods are at a lower elevation than the sewer line, a low-pressure sewer system or force main is used to move the waste to a pumping station, where it is pushed to a sufficient elevation for gravity to take over. Individual homes connected to the low-pressure system often require their own grinder pumps that reduce the size of particulates in the waste so it flows better through the system.

The grinder pumps, installed between the home and the sewer line, generally hold a reservoir of about 30 gallons, and when the waste reaches a certain level, the electric pump is activated. Without a standby electrical generator, the system does not function during power outages. The pumps need occasional maintenance and replacement, requiring a service call from a specialized technician.

What It Costs

When they receive an order from the town to connect to the sewer, all property owners must pay to hire a contractor to complete the work, and the need for a grinder pump increases that cost. The cost of a grinder pump varies greatly depending on the property’s individual needs; the pumps themselves retail for around $10,000, although they can be purchased under a bulk contract by municipalities for about $6,000.

In a report last year, the Chatham Water and Sewer Advisory Committee estimated that the cost for a grinder pump installation includes around $1,500 for standard electrical work related to the pump and an additional $2,000 to $3,000 in installation expenses. In all, the cost to connect with a grinder pump ranges from $16,100 to $25,970, compared to a range of $5,800 to $11,870 for regular gravity sewer connections.

Once the system is connected, property owners can expect to pay at least $500 for each service call after the pump’s warranty has expired, and can expect to replace the pump’s core about 10 to 15 years after installation at a cost of between $2,000 and $3,000. Operation of the system could be expected to cost homeowners an additional $100 per year on their electrical bills, according to Bob Byrnes of the Lime Hill Homeowners Association, which has studied the problem extensively.

Because of the extra expense of grinder pumps, “no one is enthusiastic about this,” Byrnes told the Chatham select board recently.

“I’m all for sewer, don’t get me wrong there. But a mechanical thing is made to break,” resident Crayton Nickerson said at the meeting. A longtime employee of the Chatham public works department, Nickerson is no stranger to machinery. “If these pumps are so great, they should be warranteed for life,” he said. “I don’t live in a $5 million house,” he said. “I can’t afford to put in a $20,000 or $25,000 system.”

It Might Cost More

Depending on other factors, connecting using a grinder pump can be even more costly. The pumps operate on the property’s electrical system, which might not have the capacity for the additional load.

“We installed probably 25 of the 30 pumps in town,” contractor Gene Dubis of JW Dubis and Sons said. “I’d say with half of them, they had to upgrade their electrical service.” Generally, upgrading cost between $8,000 and $10,000, and one upgrade cost $20,000, he said.

Absegami Run resident Michael Brown said his neighbor had to pay more than $13,000 for an upgrade.

“Chatham is filled with older homes, and some are occupied by older residents,” he said. “Not only are they going to have a shock when they find out how much grinder systems cost, they’re going to get a shock when they find out their houses can’t run a grinder system.”

Often, residents needing grinder pumps decide to have backup generators installed at the same time. Absegami Run resident David Oppenheim said the generators aren’t about making one’s home comfortable during outages.

“If you don’t have a generator and the power’s out for [more than a few] hours, you’re leaving your house, because you can’t go to the bathroom,” he said. Oppenheim said grinder pumps need to be periodically operated if a house is not occupied in the winter, or the waste will solidify and the pump will become disabled.

Chatham Studies The Problem

“It’s a complex issue with lots of elements to it,” said water and sewer advisory committee Chair Jeff Colby. For more than a year, the committee studied the issue of grinder pumps with an eye toward reducing the burden on property owners. The committee focused on the acquisition of pumps, saving a discussion on operation and maintenance for the future. First, the committee recommended that the town install gravity sewers wherever possible, to avoid the need for additional grinder pumps.

There are 32 grinder pumps in use currently in Chatham, and about 1,000 are projected to be needed when the town-wide sewer system is eventually completed.

The committee recommended that Chatham adopt a policy modeled after one used in Orleans, with the town purchasing grinder pumps at a discounted rate, selling them to homeowners at the same rate, and passing on the manufacturer’s five-year warranty. “The current cost that’s provided [for] pumps to the town of Orleans is $6,000 per unit, which is significantly lower than what the market rate is for those pumps,” Colby said. The policy has an important benefit: the same model pumps will be in use across the system, reducing problems that arise if homeowners select a less reliable model.

“That’s a very important component of our recommendation,” he said. “These pumps are very reliable, generally.”

The committee’s recommendation does not address operation and maintenance, but in Orleans, those costs — and the expense of installation — are borne by the homeowner.

What Other Towns Are Doing

Just as different towns use different models to pay for their sewer systems — Chatham uses property taxes and other communities use betterment assessments on individual properties — there are different strategies for paying for grinder pumps.

Orleans does not subsidize the installation, maintenance or operation of grinder pumps in its low-pressure system, but does provide standardized models at a discounted rate linked to the consumer price index over time. In the first two phases of its 40-year plan, the town has made 711 sewer connections, and less than a third require grinder pumps.

“Having watched the installation of the collection system for many properties downtown, in many cases gravity is more expensive than low pressure,” Orleans Water and Sewer Commission Chair Alan McClennen said. “The trenches are deeper and longer thus more expensive. They require bigger equipment and safety items such as trench boxes. Low pressure is installed in a shallow trench.”

McClennen said Orleans has not encountered pushback yet about the grinder connections in its system, he said.

Harwich is still finalizing its policies, but also plans to purchase grinder pumps and provide them to the property owners, who will pay for installation, operation and maintenance, according to Water/Wastewater Superintendent Dan Pelletier. While there are only 17 properties needing grinder pumps on the town’s system now, about 70 more will need to connect in the next phase. While he can’t say how many will likely be needed when the entire sewer system is completed decades from now, he predicts there will be a fair amount.

“There are areas in town like West Harwich for example that have high groundwater which makes installing a gravity sewer main impractical and cost prohibitive,” he said. “We are also likely to encounter situations where a gravity sewer is possible but there is no viable pump station site. All things considered, in evaluating the difference in construction cost between gravity and low-pressure sewers, the low pressure comes at a much lower cost. Where the town stands to save a fair amount on constructing low pressure sewers it seemed appropriate to use those savings to help alleviate the financial burden of purchasing a grinder pump,” Pelletier said.

Has there been pushback about equity?

“We don’t have many grinder pumps right now and the town has agreed to provide them to the Phase 2 properties and other phases moving forward, so I think we’ve done a good job staying ahead of it,” he said. “That said, the words ‘grinder pump’ always generate some pushback. The other equity struggle is that our watershed management plan only sewers about 50 percent of the town which leaves plenty of folks in town that want sewer but will never get it, and others that are required to connect and don’t want to, it can be tough to navigate at times.”

Falmouth took a different approach. The town buys grinder pumps in bulk and gives them to homeowners at no cost. Property owners are still responsible for installing the devices and contracting with a private firm to respond to any alarms or pump failures. As long as the homeowner was not at fault for the failure (for instance, by flushing items other than ordinary waste), the town pays the repair costs.

Barnstable provides grinder pumps to homeowners who needed them, and the cost was included in the sewer construction contract. Property owners pay for installation and maintenance.

Chelmsford, Mass. is another community that provides pumps to homeowners at no expense. The town contracts with Weston and Sampson — the same company that operates Chatham’s wastewater system — to inspect and repair grinder pumps. In case of short-term power outages, residents can call the town’s DPW which will bring a generator to properties in order to operate the pumps in an emergency.

Homeowners Argue For Equity

The Lime Hill Road homeowners drafted a five-page policy proposal for Chatham, suggesting that the town purchase grinder pumps for those who need them, with the homeowner responsible for installation costs, but with the town paying the difference over and above what a traditional gravity feed installation would cost. Under the proposal, the town would maintain and repair the pumps, bearing all costs except those associated with negligence by the homeowner. The policy further would reimburse homeowners for the electrical cost of operating the pumps, via a credit on their sewer bill.

“We are not asking for a handout for Chatham homeowners,” Byrnes told the select board. The proposal seeks financial equity for those unlucky enough to need grinder pumps, he said. “We are all taxpayers and should all bear the same cost burden,” he said.

Oppenheim agreed, saying the entire town benefits from the sewer system.

“That’s why it went on the tax rate,” he said. “Equity is why it passed.” Further, the installation of a low-pressure system in his neighborhood reduced the town’s cost of installing the more expensive gravity sewer main, while requiring homeowners to pay more for grinder pumps. For that reason, having the town merely provide discounted pumps isn’t enough, he said. “On Absegami Run, we gave the town a $500,000 discount” on sewer construction costs, Oppenheim said.

Chatham presses pause

Select board Chair Mike Schell asked Colby how the advisory committee decided on providing residents with discounted pumps, rather than buying them outright.

“It was a difficult discussion that we had,” said Colby, who is also the public works director in Yarmouth. The committee was split on the draft policy, but could agree at least to provide discounts. The majority of the committee felt that buying pumps outright was not the best policy now, “but it doesn’t mean that isn’t something that should be considered in the future,” Colby said.

“Folks who are compelled to connect to the sewer on a low-pressure line shouldn’t be disadvantaged, as opposed to those who connect on a gravity line,” board member Dean Nicastro said.

“An investment by the town in grinder pumps, and forwarding that investment back to folks that have to use them, is an overall investment in our wastewater system,” board member Jeffrey Dykens said. He said he favors having the town purchase pumps for homeowners.

Board members signaled that more discussion is needed on the topic, but agreed to remand the policy to the water and sewer advisory committee for further review in light of concerns raised by property owners. On a suggestion by Oppenheim, the board also voted to ask the board of health to consider a moratorium on requiring connections that need grinder pumps (unless the homeowner prefers to proceed with one) until the policy is reviewed.

“I’m not someone who wants to blow up an entire system,” board member Shareen Davis said, but she favors further study of the issue and a moratorium on new grinder pump connection orders until the policy can be reviewed. “This has just raised more questions than answers,” she said.