Speedy response helps contain pollution at park

Town discovers, repairs broken sewer main valve at Police Cove

Posted 2/11/19

The town's quick response to a broken sewer main valve likely prevented a "catastrophe" last week.

Barrington Department of Public Works Director Alan Corvi said the sewer division crew discovered …

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Speedy response helps contain pollution at park

Town discovers, repairs broken sewer main valve at Police Cove

Posted

The town's quick response to a broken sewer main valve likely prevented a "catastrophe" last week.

Barrington Department of Public Works Director Alan Corvi said the sewer division crew discovered sewage bubbling out of the ground near the Police Cove Park sewer pumping station on Wednesday, Feb. 6. 

Officials quickly called an outside contractor, Bristol-based CB Utility, which worked with the town to repair the broken valve and prevent the seepage of raw sewage into the nearby Barrington River. 

"I think everyone did a great job," said Mr. Corvi.

The valve likely failed on Tuesday, Feb. 5, said Mr. Corvi, and by Wednesday morning the sewage was filling a small puddle. 

Mr. Corvi said the DPW contained the spill to a small area near the pumping station. Meanwhile, crews from CB Utility set up between the pumping station and the East Bay Bike Path and dug 20 feet down to where the forced sewer main lay. A check of the main revealed a broken valve — every time the pump turned on, sewage leaked out of the pipe. 

Mr. Corvi said the sewer vacuum truck removed the leaked sewage, and DPW employees began running the station manually — once the tank filled, crews pumped the sewage out into waiting septic trucks. Mr. Corvi said there was no impact to the nearby residents; the Police Cove Park pumping station services the Rumstick, Mathewson Road, and Country Club plat sections of town.

By Friday, workers had repaired the broken valve and then applied epoxy to seal the pipe. Crews returned Saturday morning to fill the excavation hole. 

"It's pretty much resolved," said Barrington Town Manager Jim Cunha, who added that the area will be covered in loam and then seeded this spring. The manager called the DPW's response to the sewer leak "wonderful."

Mr. Corvi was happy that the town was able to repair the problem before any of the sewage made its way into the Barrington River. The leak was located about 100 yards west of the Police Cove Park boat ramp. 

The DPW director said the high water table made the repair work difficult, as crews needed to pump water out of the hole they dug to work on the broken valve. 

There are 15 pumping stations in Barrington that help push sewage to a treatment plant in Riverside. Mr. Corvi said the pumping stations were built in the late 1970s and early 1980s. 

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