Great Sand Lakes Sewer Installation System Underway

 HARWICH – The Phase 3A sewer installation project for the Great Sand Lakes area and portions of Queen Anne Road has begun. The contractor, Dig It LLC, informed residents it would begin moving equipment into the area as of last Monday. The project is estimated to take between two and two-and-a-half years to complete.

 The digging up of roads is going to be challenging to residents over that period, Town Administrator Jay McGrail said, but the ponds will greatly benefit in the long run and the short-term challenges will be worth it.

 McGrail said that initially, the project was located in phase eight or nine in the town’s comprehensive wastewater management plan, but the town took proactive steps to protect the ponds, he told the 75 residents June 30.

 “Harwich is the first community on Cape Cod to take a proactive approach to save ponds,” Select Board member Donald Howell said. Sewering projects throughout the Cape have focused primarily on nitrogen reductions in the marine environment.

Dig It, the low bidder at $11,631,787, is a local contractor headquartered in the industrial zone further west on Queen Anne Road. Keith Fernandes, project manager for Dig It, said the first house he owned was on Queen Anne Road.

Queen Anne Road is the major travel way within the project area. Jeff Gregg, project director for consultant GHD, said there will be no work done on Queen Anne Road from June 15 to Sept. 15 each year.

Dig It has a staging location for its equipment at 908 Queen Anne Rd., but there will be occasions when equipment may remain along the edge of a road, said Fernandes.

Work will be conducted on side roads during the summer. The hours of work on a daily basis will typically be 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., he said. Roads will receive temporary resurfacing at the end of each day.

The project will include the relocation of some stormwater facilities and new and replacement catch basins and leaching pits will be added during sewer installation. The completed project will include curb-to-curb road resurfacing.

There will be traffic disruptions and detours and times when Queen Anne Road is closed or has one lane open. McGrail said there will be construction zone updates on the town website and in his weekly presentation at select board meetings. All project activity will be coordinated with the police, fire department and the school district.

A pumping station will be located on Wales Road. A force main will carry wastewater through several side roads to Queen Anne Road and to Depot Road, and from there the main will run under the roundabout east to Queen Anne Road extending to a connection at the Chatham town line to the Chatham treatment plant.

There were a number of questions about residents connecting to the sewer. Gregg said homes in the western portion of the project will be serviced by low pressure pipe, a large portion to the center of the project will be served by a gravity system, and there are scattered areas where grinder pumps will be needed. McGrail said the town will be covering the cost of the first grinder pump to homeowners. 

The location of lateral connections also drew a number of questions. Those are the connections from the homeowner’s property line to where pipes tie into the sewer line in the road. Stakes will be placed at the best location for the connection. If the chosen location is not suitable or there is a conflict with other utilities, there will be a supervisor available to discuss the relocation of the lateral connection.

Property owners will have to hire an engineer or sanitarian to develop a plan to make the connection from the house to the street. The cost of that installation is estimated at between $10,000 and $20,000. Funding assistance programs are available, such as the Barnstable County Aqua Fund and state tax credits for septic systems. McGrail also recommended those homes requiring grinder pumps consider adding a generator in case of power outages.

Town staff is available to answer questions or address issues that homeowners have relating to the sewer project, McGrail said. He encouraged residents to call his office. 

Once the project is completed and approved by the state Department of Environmental Protection, the town will send out notices giving two years for households to connect to the sewer system, according to McGrail.