Saugus DPW receives new water truck

SAUGUS – Department of Public Works Superintendent Joseph Attubato is flush with excitement over his new high velocity truck.The baby blue truck loaded with a high velocity machine is designed specifically for flushing sewer lines and storm drains, which Attubato said is needed more often than one might think.”Pretty near every week we have a plug up somewhere in town,” he said. “Tommy’s (DiNocco) always on the go.”Attubato said Town Meeting members voted to fund the new truck during last spring’s annual meeting.”The old one was more than 20 years old,” he added. “The town got its money’s worth out of that one.”DiNocco joked that the new truck didn’t look like much, but his crew, Daniel Soares and Chris Coco, who will more than likely be operating the new rig, were pretty happy with it.The stainless steel box style truck holds a 1,500 gallon tank with a hydraulic hose attached to the back. DiNocco said the hose is fed into the clogged line and when the water is turned on it breaks up the clog with a high velocity blast.Soares said the blast works well on roots as well as clogs, but said illegally dumped grease has been the biggest culprit in recent months, plugging up drainage lines all over town.”It’s bizarre but it (grease) gets hard as a rock when it sits there,” he said.Outfitted with a back up camera and fittings that allow the water tank to be filled from either side are little luxuries, DiNocco said, that the truck has that makes their job easier.”There’s a heater in the back too,” he said, which is important when it comes to winter calls.The old truck was not only open, but the hose hung off the back. On winter runs DiNocco said they had to be careful that things didn’t freeze. The new truck has a hydraulic lift that easily moves the large wheel that houses the hose in and out of the truck and it has side doors that close and a heater that keeps the water tank and the hose from freezing.”It’s a pretty good set up, it really is,” DiNocco said. “The other truck was a beast.”The newest vehicle in the stable has yet to hit the road. DiNocco said the paperwork is still being settled, and town logos need to be added to dress it up a little.”Then it will be ready to go,” he said.