Woonsocket Selects Veolia Water for Collection System O&MM
The city of Woonsocket, R.I. and Veolia Water North America - Northeast LLC are expanding their public-private partnership for wastewater services.
In a competitive procurement, the city selected Veolia Water to operate, maintain and manage the city’s wastewater collection system. For more than a decade, Veolia Water has provided O&M and management services for the city’s 16-million-gallons-per-day (mgd) wastewater treatment facility.
The collection system includes 108 miles of collection lines that deliver wastewater flows from Woonsocket and North Smithfield, R.I.; and Blackstone and Bellingham, Mass., to the city’s wastewater treatment plant. City and Veolia Water officials state that unifying the management approach between system and facility operations and implementing new asset management practices will yield greater benefits.
Valued at approximately $10 million, the 10-year contract includes a $1-million concession payment by Veolia Water to the city, as well as $230,000 for the purchase of city-owned vehicles for collections system work.
”Building on an already successful partnership for facility operations and management, we are looking forward to Veolia Water’s added value in the management of our collection system. This agreement includes a $1 million concession which is an additional benefit to the city beyond the environmental and economic benefits we expect to receive,” said Woonsocket Mayor Susan Menard.
Veolia Water’s Underground Asset Management program will focus on servicing and maintaining the system’s underground assets to extend asset life, lower operating costs and increase capacity.
The partnership builds on an EPA and Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management initiative to reduce the potential for sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) in numerous Rhode Island communities.
“The city’s team of Eisenhardt Group and Burns & Levenson were hired to advise us during the bid process and they deserve a lot of credit for getting this contract completed in a manner that provides maximum benefits for the city, both immediately and in the long-term planning for our infrastructure needs,” said Mike Annarummo, Woonsocket director of Public Works. “This first step is critical for determining the future capital upgrades that will be required at the wastewater facility and will save the city money as we move forward.”