Saugus water system upgrade under way

SAUGUS – Town Manager Scott Crabtree said work is under way on a $200,000 infrastructure plan that will make the town?s water system more efficient.Crabtree said the town signed a contract with engineering firm CDM Smith to install a geographic information system, or GIS, which will computerize the location of every pipe and fixture in town.?We?re using a very antiquated system as far as we?re using index cards and we don?t have the GIS system which most communities have,” said Crabtree.Crabtree described the system as a computerized overlay that maps out pipes and hydrants for the DPW and for developers. He said the system is part of a larger plan.?This is just one piece of an overall capital improvement plan,” said Crabtree. “It?s obviously essential to proper budgeting and reducing the risk of having breaks in the middle of the night.”Once the GIS is in place, Crabtree said CDM Smith will conduct a flow test to determine the condition of pipes in the system so the town can prioritize their replacement.?It also tests how much water flow they have for fire safety and then prioritize with a capital improvement plan,” said Crabtree. “It makes it much more efficient. Hopefully after this water infrastructure project is put in place and we?re able to prioritize the water mains that should be replaced first, then hopefully we?ll be replacing the ones at most risk.”Crabtree said the money for the system comes from the water enterprise account and work could take up to eight months to complete.Paul Ross, Vice-President of CDM Smith, said in a letter to Crabtree that the town?s current system does “not necessarily show correct location and size of older pipes and valves.”?Location and data regarding individual property service connections is still kept on hand-written “service cards” in file cabinets as it was when the system was first built decades ago,” said Ross in the letter. “The lack of records and a single source tie card system put DPW personnel at a huge disadvantage when water breaks occur ?”Ross said these cards can be scanned, making them “easily searchable and accessible bycomputer to town personnel” while computer simulations will be able to “maximize improvements.”?The model will allow the town to address ?what if? scenarios associated with future development and population forecasts and the resulting changes to the system?s water demand and waste water load,” said Ross.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].