New process and rules for
Water & Sewer Charge Abatements
Fall 2008 Water Meter Readings
Mass DEP Award to Lexington
Contact Information
- Water and Sewer
Operations:
- 7:00 - 3:30 ET Monday - Friday
-
-
Dennis Meehan
- Superintendent of Water &
Sewer
-
1557 Massachusetts Ave.
-
Lexington, MA 02420
-
- 781-861-2757 (phone)
- 781-861-2783
(fax)
24 Emergency Phone Number- 781-862-1618
-
- Water and Sewer Billing:
- 7:30 - 3:30 ET Monday - Friday
Barbara Stevens
Utility Enterprise Business Manager
has moved to:
1557 Massachusetts Ave.
(former School Administration Building)
Lexington, MA 02420
-
781-862-0500 X379
(phone)
-
781-861-2783 (fax)
-
Mission Statement
The mission of the Water and Sewer Divisions is to serve the needs and concerns of its
customers, sustain quality drinking water, and provide for the safe and proper discharge
of wastewater by maintaining the Town's complete water and sewer infrastructure and
implementing various service programs.
About the Water/Sewer Division
The Town of Lexington belongs to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) and
purchases approximately 2 billion gallons of water annually. The Town pays the MWRA to
treat and dispose of the town's sewage.
The State Legislature assisted in sewer rate relief again by including in their budget
$49 million for MWRA communities that meant a reduction of
$833,076 in Lexington's MWRA
assessment. Lexington has received $4,646,319 from the State since the implementation of
this program. The average residential water/sewer bill can be computed by
multiplying 15 units (1 unit = 100 cubic feet) by the number of
people in residence during the billing period.
Irrigation Meter Installation Program
Lexington has implemented a policy that allows installation
of a second meter for outdoor watering. Water consumed through this meter is only
charged a water rate. There have been approximately 2,261 irrigation meters installed to date.
The Water/Sewer System
The infrastructure consists of
158 miles of water main, 2 water towers
storing 3 million gallons, 1,500 fire hydrants, 3,400 street and hydrant control valves,
and about 10,000 residential control valves located on property lines. Four main water
transmission lines serve Lexington: a 16" main at Summer St., a 16" main on
Mass. Ave. in East Lexington, a 12" main at Watertown Street,
and a 24" main on Concord Avenue.
The sewer system has 120 miles of street line sewers, 34 miles of trunk line sewers and
10 sewer pump stations, including the main pumping station at Route 128 and Bedford St.,
and 600 manholes.
Pumping Stations
How Is the Water/Sewer Division Structured?
The divisions are divided into three sections: water distribution, sewer maintenance,
and construction. Employees are cross-trained to perform all division functions and
participate in snow removal operations
The distribution section has six employees who respond to service calls from residents,
repair curb and water control boxes, read and install water meters and maintain and update
the water control valve locations. They oversee the cross-connection control program and
investigate all water bill complaints. They also mark out services for contractors,
utility companies and assist the Engineering Division.
In an ongoing effort to provide residents with quality drinking water, staff conducts
an annual system-wide water-flushing program during September and October. Water is tested
for bacteria and chloroform on a weekly basis at nine different sampling locations. All
testing results are available.
The sewer maintenance section consists of three employees who maintain
the sewer system of 120 miles of pipe and 10 sewer pump stations, implement the sewer main
flushing program and manage the pump station maintenance program. These two programs
assure residents of the safe and proper discharge of wastewater. This staff has the
technical knowledge to identify any electrical problems with relay or pressure switches.
The construction section of the division consists of
three employees who
are responsible for the lead water service replacement program, installing new control
valves where needed, and replacing defective control valves. Staff oversees replacements
of hydrants, sewer mains and sewer services.
Employees attend training seminars on confined space entry, cross
connection control, MWRA procedures for drinking water sampling, hydrant maintenance and
courses relating to the State certification exams. Six employees are State Certified
Drinking Water Facility Operators. One is a grade 4, three are Grade 3’s,
and one is a Grade 1. Another employee is a State Certified Back flow
tester and Cross Connection Surveyor.
Staff responds to emergency water and sewer repairs day and night.
Service interruptions are kept to a minimum but breaks are often at times and locations
inconvenient to customers and motorists.
