Mattapoisett River Valley WD

Mattapoisett River Valley WD Drinking Water Report Info
The History Mattapoisett was joined as a town on May 20, 1857, yet before that it was a town within the Town of Rochester. Early life in the town was moderately free of different villages since the economy was self sustaining and travel was slow and troublesome. Ater 1800, the town grew to be a renowned ship building community, supplying vessels of differing size and tonnage to the shipping and whaling industries. The last vessel to be worked in Mattapoisett was the bark "Wanderer"launched in 1878. Another early industry was the "Salt Works" which created vast quantities of salt from sea water.Following the decay of the whaling industry and the time of sail, the town became a "summering place" for residents of New Bedford and Boston. The history is documented and presented in a delightfulHistorical Museum, maintained and improved by a devoted and dynamic Mattapoisett Historical Society. Summary and Background The Mattapoisett River Valley Water District includes water supply sources worked by the Towns of Fairhaven, Marion and Mattapoisett, also serving the Town of Rochester. Every town experiences raised concentrations of iron and manganese in their wells, requiring several wells to be put offline. As opposed to constructing several treatment facilities for the eight wells, the Towns teamed to construct a single propelled water treatment office. This is the third ultrafilitration treatment office in the state, and provides uncommon treatments, allowing the Towns to meet and surpass present and future treatment standards. The Towns have worked together throughout the previous 20 years on water resources insurance through the Mattapoisett River Valley Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee. The Committee assessed yearly fees to the members based on the amount of water pumped and uses these fees for land purchase and other water resource insurance measures. They meet routinely in regards to watershed arranging, resource management and to review pumping information from within the valley. This Committee formed the basis of the District. Formation of the MRVD In 2002 the Towns started discussions with respect to source water quality, future supply needs and water treatment alternatives for reactivation of sources that were off line because of poor water quality. Every one of the three towns have lost supply limit because of high concentrations of iron and manganese in their wells. At their spring 2003 Annual Town meetings, the four Towns endorsed subsidizing for a study committee to see water supply needs of the four communities. The Committee consisted of three appointees from every town. The Committee's scope included review of ebb and flow and future water supply limit and demands, water quality, and treatment alternatives, development of recommendations as to the advisability of establishing a territorial water district, association of the district; and resolution of activity and control issues, and estimated construction, activity and maintenance costs of district facilities. In response to the Committee's recommendations, the four Towns set forth articles for endorsement of the Regional Water District at their Spring 2004 yearly Town meetings. The District was endorsed overwhelmingly by every one of the four towns based upon written ballots. Special Legislation, Chapter 367 of the Acts of 2004 , passed in October of 2004, established the District. Design and Construction The District's engineers, Tata and Howard, assisted the Towns in assessing and formulating the Water District. The task poses extraordinary challenges because of differing water chemistry from well to well and the requirement for several miles of raw and finished water transmission mains. The engineers directed a water supply study, water treatment office siting assessment, and completed the design of the ultrafiltration treatment office..