HomeMy WebLinkAboutNHSPP - Connection Letter - Grinder Pump
Town of Nantucket Sewer Department
WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT
David C. Gray Sr. 81 S. Shore Road – Nantucket, MA 02554
Director Town Direct 508‐228‐7200 x7801
sewer@nantucket‐ma.gov
April 1, 2019
Dear Property Owner:
As you are aware, the Town of Nantucket has recently completed construction of the sewer lines that front your property.
Each property has been serviced with a stub, which extends from the sewer main in the street to each property. In order to
provide sewer service to all properties in the service area, both gravity and low-pressure sewers are being utilized. Due to
the topography of the area, your property will be serviced by a low-pressure sewer, which requires an individual on-lot
residential grinder pump unit to collect waste from the house and pump it into the pressure sewer line.
The new sewer system will eliminate existing on-site septic systems, thereby helping to prevent pollution of Nantucket’s
groundwater and coastal resource areas. The Sewer Department has accepted the system in your area for use and is hereby
notifying property owners that they may proceed with steps needed to connect their dwelling or building. A flow chart
graphic regarding the process of connection of private properties to the municipal sewer is enclosed for your reference,
along with a list of Excavation Contractors licensed by the Town of Nantucket. Please note that there is a separate ongoing
training/certification process for grinder pump installations – homeowners shall confirm with the Town that their intended
installer has all proper certifications. Additionally, a public meeting will be held on April 11, 2019 at 6:00pm at the
PSF Community Room (4 Fairgrounds Road) to further explain the sewer connection process, including the
installation and use of grinder pumps (see attached invitation).
Please be advised that there are two fees associated with connection to the municipal sewer that are assessed per connection.
The first fee is a Sewer Service Connection Fee of $2,000 to cover administrative costs associated with the connection. For
any dwelling that connects within two years of the availability of the sewer for use, this fee will be reduced to $500. The
second fee is a Sewer Privilege Fee of $6,322.15 to cover a share of the costs associated with previous infrastructure
improvements in the municipal sewer system.
Furthermore, permitted sewer connections serviced by this project will be eligible for purchase of individual grinder pump
units at a reduced price. The Town will procure individual simplex residential grinder pump units and will contract for
these units to be provided to eligible properties. The Town will offer to the owners of eligible dwellings the option to
purchase a grinder pump unit and associated electrical control panel unit from the Town for a discounted cost of $1,500.
For dwellings that have installed an innovative/alternative (I/A) Title 5 system approved by the Nantucket Health
Department, the discounted cost for the grinder pump unit will be further reduced to $500.
Property owners will normally have two years from the date of this notification to connect their existing building(s) to the
municipal sewer, with the exception that properties with an approved I/A septic system have up to 10 years from the date
of installation of the I/A system to connect to the municipal sewer. Properties in an environmentally sensitive (nitrogen
sensitive) area that are not on an I/A system will be required to file a Sewer Connection Permit Application within 6 months
of receiving this notification and will have one year following receipt of application approval to complete the installation
of their sewer connection.
Upon connection to the municipal sewer, customers are subject to a Sewer User Charge to cover the operation and
maintenance costs of the wastewater facilities. The sewer user charge will be based on water use and will be a separate line
item on your water bill. Currently this fee averages approximately $1,200 per year for a typical single-family residential
home. For properties with private water (a well), there is a fixed sewer user fee of $225.75 per quarter for dwellings with
up to 3 bedrooms and $376.48 per quarter for dwellings with over 3 bedrooms.
We are pleased to have the sewer available for use. We trust that this letter and the attachments will be helpful in explaining
the procedures that have been established. More information is available on the project website at www.nantucket-
ma.gov/NHS-Plus-Sewer. If you have any questions or concerns with regard to connecting to the sewer, please contact the
Sewer Department at the Surfside Wastewater Treatment Facility, telephone (508) 228-7200 (x7801).
Very truly yours,